The more children a woman has, the slower she ages - New study

A surprising new study,

however, suggests that the more children a

woman has , the slower she ages .

The researchers suggest the more children a

mother has, the slower she may age.

In the journal PLOS One , researchers reveal that

women who had more children had longer

telomeres than women who had fewer children.

Telomeres are caps at the end of each DNA strand

that protect our chromosomes - thread-like

structures that contain all our genetic information -

from damage.

Each time a cell replicates, telomeres become

shorter. They eventually become so short that they

stop protecting chromosomes, leaving them

vulnerable to damage, which in turn causes our

cells to age and stop functioning effectively.

Previously, animal studies have supported the "life

history theory," suggesting that higher

reproductive behavior is associated with

accelerated biological aging.

However, this latest study, led by Prof. Pablo

Nepomnaschy and Cindy Barha - both of Simon

Fraser University in Canada - contradicts this

theory.

Each additional child linked to an increase

in telomere length

The team enrolled 75 Kaqchikel Mayan women

from two neighboring communities in the

southwest highlands of Guatemala, assessing how

many children the women gave birth to between

2000-2013.

At the beginning of the 13-year study period, the

women's telomere length was measured from

saliva samples. Telomere length was measured

again at study end, but through a buccal swab.

The researchers found that women who had a

higher number of surviving offspring over the

course of 13 years had longer telomeres than

those who gave birth to fewer surviving children;

each additional child born was linked to 0.059

more telomere units.

These results remained after accounting for

potential influential factors, including women's age,

their age at first birth, their age in 2013, lifestyle

habits and family income.

Commenting on their findings, the researchers say:

Increased estrogen production in pregnancy

may explain findings

Prof. Nepomnaschy hypothesizes that their

findings may be explained by an increase in the

hormone estrogen that arises during pregnancy.

"Estrogen functions as a potent antioxidant that

protects cells against telomere shortening," he

explains.

Furthermore, Prof. Nepomnaschy says social

environment may play a role in the association

between the number of children a woman has and

her pace of aging, noting that the women included

in this study who had multiple children had greater

social support from family and friends.

"Greater support leads to an increase in the

amount of metabolic energy that can be allocated

to tissue maintenance, thereby slowing down the

process of aging," he adds.

The team concludes that future studies should

investigate the association between reproductive

frequency and biological aging in women of

different ethnicities and social backgrounds.

Last year, Medical News Today reported on a study

in which researchers detailed a possible way to

increase the length of human telomeres, paving the

way to new treatments for numerous genetic and

age-related diseases.

"Our analyses show that increased offspring

number across 13 years of observation

attenuated telomere shortening, suggesting

that, in our study population, having more

children may slow the pace of cellular aging."

MNT