There are two methods of determining biological age that have reliable evidence linking alcohol to physical harm: telomere length and epigenetic age. Here’s how alcohol can change these.
Drinking alcohol can make DNA vulnerable to damage. And that’s bad. Shorter telomere length is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and coronary heart disease. A 2022 study found that the more people drank, the shorter their telomeres became. This means that alcohol causes biological aging of the body.
Drinking more than 29 units of alcohol per week (about ten 250ml glasses of 14% wine) was found to be associated with a one- to two-year age-related change in telomere length compared to drinking less than six units of alcohol per week (about two large glasses of 250ml wine).
Children between the ages of 3-6 who have an alcohol use disorder.
But it’s unclear how alcohol shortens telomeres.
Epigenetic age is associated with approximately 100 biomarkers to assess DNA methylation. This process is closely related to aging.
According to Dr. Lifan Hou, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, epigenetics is the interface between our fixed DNA inherited from our parents and the ever-changing environment (including lifestyle) we live in.
Scientists have found that epigenetic aging may be the result of an unhealthy lifestyle and may serve as an early warning sign of diseases.
In 2023, experts published the results of a study in which they observed people who were initially healthy for 35 years. It turned out that cumulative exposure to alcohol is a sure way to increase your biological age. It was also established that the younger you are, the more you will age due to alcohol.
At the same time, people who drank strong drinks were at higher risk of accelerated aging.
The good news is that, in theory, biological aging can be reversed. But in practice, experts don’t know how to do it.
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Source: Ferra
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