Giving birth to children causes women to age more than obesity and smoking

How does a birth affect the life expectancy of the mother?

When women have children, this seems to age DNA more than the effects of smoking or obesity. Researchers have now found that delivery shortens women's telomeres by about 4.2 percent. Longer telomeres are associated with slower aging, longer lifespan, and improved overall health.

Scientists at George Mason University, Virginia found in their study that having a baby has a significant impact on the life expectancy and aging of the mother. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Human Reproduction".

Effects of childbirth on the mother

Childbirth shortens women's telomeres by about 4.2 percent, which causes women's DNA to age by about eleven years. Longer telomeres are associated with slower aging, longer life, and improved overall health, the authors explain. Compared with the results of previous studies, it has been found that the extent of telomere shortening by birth is greater than the effects of smoking or obesity.

Stress is the cause of cell aging?

It was surprising to receive such a striking result, says the study author Dr. Anna Pollack from George Mason University. The observed effects correspond to about eleven years of accelerated cell aging. Researchers believe that this is due to the stress of parenting, especially in countries without compulsory maternity leave, such as the US.

The data from 1,505 women were evaluated for the study

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from a total of 1,505 women aged 20 to 44 years. These women had participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2002. This survey was selected because it also measured the telomere length of the participants as measured by blood samples. The number of births of the participants during the study was determined by means of a questionnaire, explain the physicians.

Births shorten telomere length?

In the study, the researchers found that after considering factors such as age, education, ethnicity, smoking, etc., women with one child had 4.2 percent shorter telomeres than women who had not yet had children. When women had five or more children, their telomeres were even shorter compared to women without children or with only one, two, three or four children, the researchers explain.

Further research is needed

The results contradict a study conducted some time ago on Malaysian women. This had revealed at the time that the birth of several children extends the telomeres. According to the researchers in the recent study, this could be due to the fact that the participants in the earlier study received greater social support. Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between motherhood and genetic aging Pollack.

Sexual activity can protect against aging

Other research had already shown last year that once a week sexual intercourse seems to slow down the aging of women. Regular sexual activity prolongs the telomeres of women, regardless of whether the women were satisfied with their sexual relationship or not. This could be due to the fact that stress is subdued and the immune system is strengthened, the experts speculate. (As)