Heat Can Age You As Much As Smoking, a New Study Finds (science.org)
- Reference: 0176752587
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/03/17/1435237/heat-can-age-you-as-much-as-smoking-a-new-study-finds
- Source link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr0616
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.
[1] https://www.npr.org/2025/03/17/nx-s1-5325273/heat-accelerates-aging-new-study-finds
[2] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adr0616
Re: (Score:2)
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.
Re: (Score:3)
> 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".
Re: (Score:2)
> 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
Re: (Score:2)
> 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?
Re: (Score:2)
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:3)
> 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.
Really? (Score:2)
Have you seen the retirement communities in Phoenix?
Re: (Score:2)
Senior citizens generally need more heat than younger people. Living in Phoenix is understandable for them.
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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. [1]https://www.trade.gov/country-... [trade.gov]
[1] https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/singapore-healthcare
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..
Re: (Score:3)
I didn't read the article, but there's no mention of sun exposure, which leads to wrinkles and thus appearing more aged. People in warmer climes are typically both 1. out in the sun more and 2. at latitudes where the sun's UV rays are stronger.
Re: Florida (Score:2)
That is the mileage, not the heat.
Re: Florida (Score:2)
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.
Seems like missed variables (Score:3)
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: [1]https://www.quotes.net/mquote/795788 [quotes.net]
[1] https://www.quotes.net/mquote/795788
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?
Re: (Score:2)
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.
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.
Please don't tell me that hot tubs age you... (Score:2)
That would be miserable.