Your body larger faster due to extreme heat

It’s good The heat is known to cause exhaustion in the body due to dehydration. But aging?

A recent study Concluded that extreme heat accelerates the aging of the human body, a worrying fact, given the increasing frequency of heat waves due to climate change.

Researchers do not talk about the effects of solar radiation on the skin, but biological aging. Unlike the chronological age – that fits you to give you when you are getting how old you are – your biological age reflects how much your cells, tissues and organs will function. The biological age can be calculated by watching physiological and molecular markers in the body as well as using different tests, for example by measuring lung function, cognitive abilities or bone density.

Over time, research was found, exposure to extreme heat can weaken body systems, which are displayed in blood pressure tests, cholesterol and blood functions. In the long run, it can increase the risks of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and dementia. Research, which was published in the journal Changes in nature climateIt found that the effect of aging extreme heat was comparable to another behavior known to be harmful to the body, such as smoking or drinking alcohol.

The researchers analyzed long-term medical data from 24,922 people in Taiwan, collected between 2008. and 2022. years. During this time, the island experienced about 30 heat waves that the research team defined several days. The researchers calculated the biological age of individuals for the first time, based on the results of different medical tests, such as liver tests, lungs and kidney functions. Then they compared the biological age of people with their chronological years, to see how fast the biological clock was taught in relation to their real time. Then they crossed this information against probable people with heat waves.

The results showed that people of more exceptional heat events experienced their biological age rapidly in relation to their chronological age. On average, among the cohort people studied, which are exposed to heat waves of two years added between eight and 12 days to the biological age of the person.

“Until the number itself can look small, over time and in different population, this effect may have significant public health implications,” said Cui Guo, University of Hong Kong and the leading author’s lead statement of nature.

The study also found that people who work physical work and those who reside in rural areas are more likely to be affected by accelerated biological aging, probably due to higher exposure to the effects of heat waves. However, an unexpected positive effect was observed: the impact of heat exposure to biological aging was actually reduced over 15 years of analyzed. The reason for this is unknown, although guo indicates the possible impact of refrigeration technologies such as air conditioning, which have become more common in recent years.

This story originally appeared Wired Spanish and has been translated from Spanish.