Heat Can Age You As Much As Smoking, a New Study Finds (science.org) 47
Prolonged exposure to extreme heat accelerates biological aging in older adults, increasing the risk of age-related illnesses, according to research published in Science Advances.
In a nationally representative study of 3,686 U.S. adults over age 56, scientists found that long-term exposure to high heat days was associated with accelerated epigenetic aging - molecular changes that affect how genes function without altering DNA itself.
Researchers from the University of Southern California discovered that individuals living in areas where heat index values regularly exceed 90F showed signs of being biologically older than those in cooler regions, even after controlling for factors like wealth, education, and lifestyle habits. Six-year cumulative heat exposure linked to as much as 2.48 years of accelerated aging in one measurement.
In a nationally representative study of 3,686 U.S. adults over age 56, scientists found that long-term exposure to high heat days was associated with accelerated epigenetic aging - molecular changes that affect how genes function without altering DNA itself.
Researchers from the University of Southern California discovered that individuals living in areas where heat index values regularly exceed 90F showed signs of being biologically older than those in cooler regions, even after controlling for factors like wealth, education, and lifestyle habits. Six-year cumulative heat exposure linked to as much as 2.48 years of accelerated aging in one measurement.
Please don't tell me that hot tubs age you... (Score:2)
That would be miserable.
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Nobody mentioned the climate. This is strictly an association of current average temperatures and markers of aging.
I think you're maybe just allergic to science.
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Nobody mentioned the climate. This is strictly an association of current average temperatures and markers of aging.
The temperature that the body is subjected to depends on more than just the ambient outdoor temperature. In extreme climates, sufficiently rich people have heating and cooling systems. Maybe this study is a comment on the proportion of poor people in areas of extreme temperature.
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I get what you're going for, but of course researchers think of this and check on it before publishing their findings. It's even directly in the abstract.
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I guess these guys want air conditioning added to their welfare checks.
I hear, that if we go into a cryogenic deep freeze, we'll live a real long time.
Eh, I see just as many old people in the desert as I do in Siberia
Do you always automatically reject anything that doesn't agree with your beliefs? Do you add hyperbole to help make you more comfortable in rejecting it? Of course you do. Say, did you get your shoes yet?
Re:Sigh, just more "climate" panic (Score:4, Interesting)
Do you always automatically reject anything that doesn't agree with your beliefs? Do you add hyperbole to help make you more comfortable in rejecting it? Of course you do. Say, did you get your shoes yet?
MAGA described perfectly. Like that meme of Trump showing off a pigeon and saying "this is a cat" and the audience repeating "this is a cat".
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Things like that happening don't have happy parallels in history.
Calling a deer a horse [wikibooks.org] was a famous scene in the collapse of the Qin dynasty in China. The breakdown of reality as secondary to the compliance with power and allegiance to faction is a death knell for a society.
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MAGA described perfectly. Like that meme of Trump showing off a pigeon and saying "this is a cat" and the audience repeating "this is a cat".
Quick, tell us what a woman is!
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You really do think about trans people a lot.
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Quick, tell us what a woman is!
Anyone identifying as someone covering their drink when you walk in a room.
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Do you always automatically reject anything that doesn't agree with your beliefs?
Don't most people? What things do you accept that don't agree with your beliefs?
I think there is a problem here in that they are using heat as the cause, but ignoring the other things associated with warm locations. Solar panels produce more power in warm climates, but it isn't because the temperature is higher. This is a classic cause/correlation issue.
Its not unlikely that people in warm climates are exposed to more sunlight and its that exposure not the heat that increases aging.The population of warm
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Eh, I see just as many old people in the desert as I do in Siberia
So you see just as many old people in places with low rates of precipitation as you do when you hang out in Siberia?
Paid Russian troll or idiot who doesnt understand the words they are using or the implications of them? Maybe both?
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So how much time do you spend in Siberia then? By your own account it must be a lot if you feel you've got a handle on how many old people live there.
Re: Sigh, just more "climate" panic (Score:1)
Wow, when you start seeing "paid Russian trolls" everywhere, it might be time to start talking to someone.
How's your life going?
Re: Sigh, just more "climate" panic (Score:5, Funny)
I see just as many old people in the desert as I do in Siberia
Did you check their ID? It could be a bunch of leathery-skinned 35year-olds.
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The really funny thing about the desert/Siberia is that both environments will age a person's appearance more then average.
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I suppose preservation of the cadaver is easier in Siberia
That works pretty well in the desert too. We have a mummy [eveandersson.com] in Ye Old Curiosity Shop, Seattle who was killed and left in the Arizona desert. He looks pretty well preserved.
But then I've seen people still walking around Palm Springs who look like that.
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Eh, I see just as many old people in the desert as I do in Siberia
Have you checked their IDs? Maybe the "old" people you see in the desert are 35 and just look old.
Really? (Score:2)
Have you seen the retirement communities in Phoenix?
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Singapore is an interesting place. Very big brother like but also very little crime and lots of wealth. They also rank first in the world in terms of access to healthcare. https://www.trade.gov/country-... [trade.gov]
Very misleading conclusion. (Score:2)
Trash proxy study doesn't invalidate heat shock proteins since correlation !=causation.
Could be:
- aircon sucks
- hiding inside means less light and less fresh air
- the need for more highly chlorinated water dries out skin microbiome and disrupts gut microbiome preventing bifidiobacteria, akkromansia and friends
Props to NotebookLM for pointing out the basic flaws.
Florida (Score:1)
Interesting study (in all seriousness).
It does rather confirm the experience I think we have all had though. You know where you meed the guy or gal who tells you he lived in Florida most of their life, you assume they are in later 60s and then learn they are 37..
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Re: Florida (Score:2)
Re: Florida (Score:2)
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I lived in Los Angeles for 30 years before coming back to eastern Pa and realizing I look 10 years younger here. Guess diets of Tasty Kakes and cheesesteaks age you faster than the sun.
It's not the Tasty Kake, it's the proximity to Amish pirates.
Seems like missed variables (Score:5, Interesting)
The study notes that this supposed heat-causation applies across the socioeconomic spectrum. But that would cause questions about whether heat is really the issue. The poor are much more likely to spend significant amount of time in the heat in hot places. Wealthier people tend to have central A/C, cars with A/C, and work in offices with a/c. Instead of spending recreational time outside when it is hot, they tend to go to gyms and indoor entertainment attractions with a/c. On the other hand, the less well-off are more likely to work outside, take public transit where they will have to wait outside, and may need to rely on window a/c or no a/c at all for their homes.
Perhaps what we are really seeing is just the impact of poorer health infrastructure in the South rather than any weather/climate impacts on health.
Reminds Me of Something (Score:3)
When I was a child, I watched "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
One of the characters had this line in the show:
"I came to Minneapolis because of the cold. I figured if I was frozen I'd keep better."
Source: https://www.quotes.net/mquote/795788 [quotes.net]
Is it heat and not the sun? (Score:3)
That excess exposure to the Sun is a significant aging factor is well established. Did they mix these two? If not, how did they make sure they didn't?
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Depends. What aging factors are you considering? This study is looking at biological markers in people's blood. I know of plenty of studies linking sun exposure to *visible* signs of aging, specifically breakdown in the skin layer, but I've yet to see any studies that linked either sun or UV exposure to biological aging markers in blood.
There are studies that link sun exposure to morbidity but they also note that the issue is related to medical problems induced by the sun on the skin - i.e. skin cancer.
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We report that individuals with BAT had lower prevalences of cardiometabolic diseases, and the presence of BAT was independently correlated with lower odds of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure and hypertension. These findings were supported by improved blood glucose, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein values. The beneficial effects of BAT were more pronounced in individuals with overweight or obesity, indicating that BAT might play a role in mitigating the deleterious effects of obesity. https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]
By releasing protons in the mitochondrial matrix, uncoupling protein-1 dissipates chemical energy as heat, a process termed nonshivering thermogenesis (9). Accumulating evidence shows that cold-induced BAT activity is associated with enhanced energy expenditure in humans (4,8,10). We have recently demonstrated that lean individuals with active BAT (BATpos) burn significantly more calories during cold conditions and have a favorable oxylipin profile compared with those without detectable BAT https://doi.org/10.2337/db21-0... [doi.org]
Further, brown fat catabolizes BCAAs into amino acids for the liver. Amino acids like glutathione (one of the 3 master antioxidants). https://www.cell.com/cell/full... [cell.com]
Does this put a crimp in retirement communities? (Score:2)
Florida and Arizona are hotbeds for retirees.
Explains Florida nicely... (Score:2)
Read the summary, instantly thought of "The Villages" in Central Florida.
Hilarious.
so the sauna is the new coffee? (Score:2)
Climate shit article (Score:2)
Considering that the five live blue zones are in places where 90 degree days are common, this article can fuck off.
I'm calling this one out... (Score:5, Interesting)
If this were true then all tropical countries would have a significantly lower lifespan. The effect isn't really apparent in the world data https://vividmaps.com/life-exp... [vividmaps.com] or state data. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]. Granted lifespan has many factors but it looks like you can still live in a 'hot place' and be ok and other factors are to blame.
So what I take from this is... (Score:2)
So instead of spending my teenage years going outside and swimming, I was better off staying inside, smoking and drinking.
When I was growing up, everyone thought that smoking would kill you - they even called them "cancer sticks". We were instead encouraged to go outside in the summer heat and "be active." I wonder if any of our teachers ever thought this advice would take years off our lives.