Summary: Losing a loved one can accelerate biological aging, a new study suggests. Researchers found that people who lost a parent, partner, sibling or child showed signs of increased biological age.
This effect was measured using DNA markers called epigenetic clocks. The study highlights the long-term impacts of grief and loss on health throughout life.
Highlights:
- Grief over the loss of a close family member accelerates biological aging.
- The effect is measured using DNA markers called epigenetic clocks.
- Loss experienced during childhood or early adulthood has a significant impact.
Source: Columbia University
Losing a loved one, such as a family member, can make you age faster, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Butler Columbia Aging Center.
The study found that people who had lost a parent, partner, sibling or child showed signs of older biological age than those who had not suffered such losses.
The research was published in Opening of the JAMA network.
Biological aging is the gradual decline in the functioning of cells, tissues, and organs, leading to an increased risk of chronic diseases. Scientists measure this type of aging using DNA markers called epigenetic clocks.
“Few studies have examined how the loss of a loved one at different stages of life affects these DNA markers, particularly in study samples that represent the U.S. population,” said Allison Aiello, PhD, the James S. Jackson Professor of Healthy Longevity in Epidemiology and senior author of the study.
“Our study shows strong links between the loss of loved ones across the life course, from childhood to adulthood, and faster biological aging in the United States.”
The study, a collaboration with the Carolina Population Center at UNC Chapel Hill, suggests that the impact of loss on aging can be seen well before middle age and may contribute to health differences between racial and ethnic groups.
The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health, which began in 1994-1995. It followed participants from adolescence through adulthood.
To measure family loss during childhood or adolescence from the longitudinal study, Aiello and colleagues followed participants across different waves and aging periods. The first wave surveyed 20,745 adolescents in grades 7 through 12, most of whom were ages 12 to 19. The participants have been followed since then.
The fifth wave took place between 2016 and 2018 and interviewed 12,300 of the original participants. In the final wave, between 2016 and 2018, participants were invited to an additional home examination during which a blood sample from the nearly 4,500 participants visited was provided for DNA testing.
The study looked at losses experienced during childhood or adolescence (up to age 18) and adulthood (ages 19 to 43). It also looked at the number of losses experienced during this period.
Data on biological aging were assessed from blood DNA methylation using epigenetic clocks, including DunedinPACE, which was developed by Aiello Center for Aging colleague and study co-author Dan Belsky and collaborators at Duke University.
Nearly 40% of participants experienced at least one loss in adulthood between the ages of 33 and 43. Parental loss was more common in adulthood than in childhood and adolescence (27% vs. 6%). A greater proportion of black (57%) and Hispanic (41%) participants experienced at least one loss compared to white participants (34%).
People who had two or more losses had older biological age according to several epigenetic clocks. Having two or more losses in adulthood was more strongly associated with biological aging than having a single loss and significantly more so than having no loss.
“The link between loss of a loved one and health problems throughout life is well established,” Aiello noted. “But certain stages of life may be more vulnerable to the health risks associated with loss, and the accumulation of losses appears to be an important factor.”
For example, losing a parent or sibling at a young age can be very traumatic, often leading to mental health problems, cognitive impairment, increased risks of heart disease, and a greater likelihood of dying earlier. Losing a close family member at any age poses health risks, and repeated losses can increase the risks of heart disease, mortality, and dementia; and the consequences can persist or become apparent long after the event.
Aiello and his co-authors point out that while loss at any age can have lasting health consequences, the effects may be most severe during key developmental periods such as childhood or young adulthood.
“We don’t yet fully understand how loss of a loved one leads to poor health and higher mortality, but biological aging may be one mechanism suggested in our study. Future research should focus on finding ways to reduce disproportionate loss among vulnerable groups. For those who experience loss, providing resources to cope and process the trauma is critical,” Aiello concluded.
Co-authors are Aura Ankita Mishra of North Carolina State University; Chantel Martin, Brandt Levitt, Kathleen Mullan Harris and Robert Hummer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Lauren Gaydosh and Debra Umberson of the University of Texas at Austin; and Daniel Belsky of the Columbia Mailman School and the Butler Columbia Aging Center.
Funding: The study was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, R01MD013349; Add Health, P01 HD31921; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, F32HD103400, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations; the National Institute on Aging, U01 AG071448 and U01AG071450; and the Carolina Population Center, P2CHD050924.
Dan Belsky is the inventor of the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock, licensed from TruDiagnostic.
About this news on research in genetics and aging
Author: Stephanie Berger
Source: Columbia University
Contact: Stephanie Berger – Columbia University
Picture: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: The results will be presented in Opening of the JAMA network