Melbourne, we all know how tough it can be during scorching hot days. Not only do they make us feel drained and cranky, but new research from the United States shows that long days of heat might also make us age faster!
When the temperature rises, it doesn’t just affect how we feel. It can change our body’s cells and how they express genes, which are like little switches that control everything in our body. If we experience a lot of heat, our body starts to work differently – and that might make us feel older sooner.
In the study, nearly 3,700 people, mostly older adults, were observed to see how extreme heat affects them over time. Researchers took blood samples and looked at changes in the genes to check how much these individuals aged biologically due to heat.
Here’s the surprising part: being exposed to intense heat made older people age faster—by more than two years in just six years! That means someone who has lived for six years felt like they had lived eight years just because of the extreme heat.
This is especially important for Australians, as we’re likely to face more heatwaves in the future. It’s clear we need to learn more about how to cope with rising temperatures.
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