Faster Biological Aging May Raise Risks of Age-Related Diseases

An international team of scientists led by the University of Leicester (United Kingdom) reports evidence that links faster biological aging – as measured by shortened telomere length – to the risk of developing age-related diseases – including heart disease, multiple sclerosis and various cancers.  The study involved scientists in 14 centers across 8 countries, in which researchers measured telomere lengths in over 48,000 individuals and looked at their DNA and identified seven genetic variants that were associated with telomere length. The scientists found that the variants were indeed linked to risk of several types of cancers including colorectal cancer, as well as diseases like multiple sclerosis and celiac disease. Most interestingly, the authors found that in aggregate the seven variants also associated with risk of coronary artery disease which can lead to heart attacks, lending them to conclude that: “Our findings support a causal role of telomere-length variation in some age-related diseases.”