Heat damages health: aging process accelerates!

Heat damages health: aging process accelerates!

The alarming results of current research on the heat and its influence on human health provide worrying knowledge. A study presented at the annual conference of the American Society for Gerontology in Seattle shows that extreme temperatures not only cause acute health problems, but also accelerate biological aging. According to the author Heidi Ledford of "Nature", the effects of the heat, especially put their paces, can affect cognitive skills and lead to long -term damage that is not immediately visible. This could be done on cellular and molecular level, as the co-author of the study, Eun Young Choi from the University of Southern California, explains.

biological age and hot days

The researchers analyzed the "epigenetic watch" of over 3,800 people aged 56 and over and determined that an increase in the hot days can increase the biological age. In particular, it showed that every ten percent increase in the heat days increases the molecular age by 0.12 years. People in hot regions seem to age up to 0.6 percent faster, while shorter heat effects do not show any significant influence on the biological markers, as "Nature" reported.

Particularly affected by the current heat wave are older people in Germany, as the Federal Center for Health Education emphasizes. Age processes make it difficult for you to adapt to high temperatures, and your feeling of thirst decreases with age, which can lead to a lack of fluid. Prof. Dr. med. Heidrun Thaiss explains that the ability to sweat is reduced in older people, which makes it difficult to give up heat. She advises you to drink enough and keep the apartment cool to minimize the risk of dehydration. In addition, she asks older people to see a doctor immediately in the event of symptoms such as dizziness or increased temperature.

The study from the USA and the warnings of the BZGA illustrate the urgent need to protect particularly vulnerable groups like older people during these extreme heat waves. Information on sufficient fluid supply is crucial to counteract the risk from heat, especially at a time when initial symptoms can be overlooked quickly.

krone.at reported on the study on accelerated aging through heat days, while the Bzga informed about the stress for older people in the current heat wave.