Women who have more children age slower, according to a new study
conducted on indigenous women in Guatemala. Researchers from the
Simon Fraser University claim that women who have more children have
longer telomeres, slowing down the cellular ageing process.
Telomeres are the tips at the end of each DNA strand that protect the
chromosomes from damage. Longer telomeres are vital to cell replication
and are associated with longevity, the researchers said. Each time a cell
replicates, the telomeres become shorter, until they become too short and
leave the chromosomes vulnerable to damage. Consequently, the cells age
and stop working effectively.
Medical News Today reports that higher reproductive behaviour is linked
with accelerated ageing. However, this new study challenges this theory.
The researchers studied the number of children born to 75 Kaqchikel
Mayan women from two rural communities in Guatemala. The team
assessed their telomere lengths twice through saliva samples and buccal
swabs between 2000 through 2013.
Women who had a higher number of surviving children had longer
telomeres than those who gave birth to fewer children. The experts suggest
that each additional childbirth is linked with 0.059 more telomere units.
“The slower pace of telomere shortening found in the study participants
who have more children however, may be attributed to the dramatic
increase in oestrogen, a hormone produced during pregnancy,” explained
Pablo Nepomnaschy, head of the Maternal and Child Health Laboratory at
the SFU Faculty of Health Sciences, in a media release. “Oestrogen
functions as a potent antioxidant that protects cells against telomere
shortening.”
Nepomnaschy also studied the participants’ environment. Additionally,
the researchers observed that women who bore numerous children
received more social support from their relatives and friends. Apparently,
support leads to an increase in the amount of metabolic energy that can be
used for tissue maintenance, which slows the ageing process.
According to Nepomnaschy and postdoctoral researcher Cindy Barha, their
research is the first to examine the direct association between telomere
shortening and the number of children over time. Nevertheless, the
researchers said that more studies must be conducted to investigate the
link between biological ageing in women and reproductive frequency in
different ethnicities and social backgrounds.
www.ibtimes.com.au/having-more-children-slows-down-ageing-claims-new-study-1499312

No wonder Mama Tony keeps looking so young even at 78. She had 11 children.


Hmnnnnnnnn.

Try this in naija, u may just have an opposite.

Genetic studies are known to encounter discrepancies from one ethic extract/geographical location to another.

I read somewhere that new pregnancies then to contribute to the repair of bad tissues and organs in a woman's body.