A phenomenon that many already suspected is now supported by a recent study: pregnancy accelerates biological aging. But after birth there is a surprising effect.
In just twenty weeks, pregnant women age by two years, experts from the American Yale School of Medicine write in their research in the journal ‘Cell Metabolism’. In general, women’s bodies undergo extensive changes: as the fetus grows, organs shift, pelvic joints loosen, and pregnancy hormones change appetite and energy levels. Additionally, neurons in the brain sometimes rewire themselves permanently.
Effects that are otherwise only known from alcohol, nicotine and stress
Biological age can differ significantly from chronological age because it is determined by genes and external influences, including lifestyle. The best-known factors for premature aging are unhealthy diet, alcohol, nicotine or stress.
The team led by perinatal researcher Kieran O’Donnell and biostatistician Hung Pham has now analyzed blood samples from 119 women at various times during and after pregnancy. They confirmed the results of a study from the previous year: They found that the stress of pregnancy accelerates aging.
Big surprise after birth
They focused on so-called DNA methylations. These are small chemical modifications of the genetic material that – unlike DNA itself – can change over a lifetime. These methylations form certain patterns that researchers can use to estimate a person’s biological age. Carrying a baby to term creates some similar patterns that can also be observed in older people.
The big surprise, however, came from the values after birth: “Three months later we noticed a remarkable decrease in biological age, in some people even by eight years,” O’Donnell explains. After pregnancy, the body recovers in almost record time.
A healthy lifestyle is also helpful here
However, this does not happen equally quickly for all women; The lifestyle before pregnancy also plays a major role, especially through the body mass index. Women who were overweight before birth did not recover as quickly at biological age. In contrast, breastfeeding resulted in a greater decrease in maternal biological age within three months of birth.
Two more big unknowns
According to O’Donnell, these observations provide interesting new impetus for aging research – although there are a few things to keep in mind: It is not clear whether the recovery effect after birth is relevant to short- or long-term health outcomes of mothers, and whether these effects extend over time accumulated over several consecutive pregnancies.
And O’Donnell quotes a second unknown: “Similarly, we do not know whether the reduction in biological age after birth is simply due to the system’s recovery to the biological age before pregnancy, or, even more provocatively, whether pregnancy has a rejuvenating effect.”
Source: Krone
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