HEALTH NOTES

Increased Body Fat Causes Increased Aging

I have written a number of articles over the years regarding obesity and the importance of trying to minimize body weight. We have become one of the most obese countries in the world! According to the largest study ever conducted of the “chromosomal clock” in humans, obesity accelerates the aging process, even more than smoking, believe it or not.

According to Tim Spector, of St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, UK, “the difference between being obese and being lean corresponds to 8.8 years of extra aging.” Spector also found that leptin, which is an appetite inhibiting hormone, is non-effective in obese people. In other words, obese individuals are resistant to leptin in spite of the fact that it is found in higher than normal levels in their bloodstream. The question is, why? If leptin receptors in the obese individual’s body are not accepting this hormone, there must be a reason.

Another extremely large factor in the aging process is smoking. In fact, according to Spector, “smokers were on average biologically older than lifetime non-smokers by 4.6 years.” He goes on the state that, “for a heavy smoker of 20 cigarettes a day for 40 years, that equals 7.4 years of extra biological aging.” And, the combination of smoking and obesity is even more devastating. He states that “fat smokers are the highest risk of all. An obese smoker is on average at least 10 years older than a lean non-smoker.” Spector also notes that “it’s not just about heart disease or lung cancer. The whole chromosomal clock is going faster. That’s the public health message.” In other words, by smoking and being obese, not only are you increasing your chances of dying of cancer or a heart attack, you are also speeding up the aging process in your body. By the time you are 70 years old, you are biologically 80 years old. By the time you are 60 years old you are biologically 70 years old, if you are obese and smoke.

Unfortunately, according to this research, these effects appear to be permanent. If you quit smoking and lose weight it reduces the rate of change, but it does not reverse it. As with much of the other damage in your body, it appears that this damage is due to free radicals. Free radicals are substances that I have discussed over the years which cause the mutation and death of cells in your body, they cause such devastating disorders as cancer and heart disease. Free radicals cause mutation in the DNA itself.

Dr. Spector now plans to look at other lifestyle factors for a future research article such as exercise, diet and occupations and their effects on biological aging.

Once again, I’d like to remind you that you can visit our website at www.upchiropractic.com to view our Health Notes articles.