Each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process, with no effect on men.
Pregnancy may accelerate biological aging in women.
Pregnancy may accelerate biological aging in women. A study conducted by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health found that each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process, with no effect on men. The study utilized epigenetic clocks to measure DNA methylation and estimate biological age based on patterns of this process. The findings suggest that pregnancy speeds up biological aging in women, particularly those who are high-fertility and have multiple pregnancies during a six-year follow-up period.
Pregnancy may accelerate biological aging in women.
Women who have been pregnant appear biologically older than those who haven't, with the effect increasing with the number of pregnancies.
The study leverages epigenetic clocks to link pregnancy to accelerated biological aging in young women.
No similar association between the number of pregnancies fathered and biological aging was found in men.
Until now, one of the challenges has been quantifying biological aging among the young.
Epigenetic clocks have revolutionized how we study biological aging across the lifecourse and open up new opportunities to study how and when long-term health costs of reproduction and other life events take hold.
The relationship between pregnancy history and biological age persisted even after taking into account various other factors tied to biological aging, such as socioeconomic status, smoking, and genetic variation.
Many of the reported pregnancies in our baseline measure occurred during late adolescence.
Accuracy
We still have a lot to learn about the role of pregnancy and other aspects of reproduction in the aging process.
The current understanding of epigenetic clocks comes largely from North America and Europe, but that the aging process can take slightly different forms in other parts of the world.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, it states that pregnancy may accelerate biological aging in women but fails to mention that the study only found this correlation among young mothers and not men. Secondly, the article implies that there are no similar associations between number of pregnancies fathered and biological aging among same-aged cohort men which is incorrect as stated by the author Calen Ryan PhD.
Pregnancy may accelerate biological aging in women
The study only found this correlation among young mothers and not men.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority by citing a study from Columbia University without providing any context or explanation of the research methods used in the study. Additionally, there is no evidence presented to support the claim that pregnancy accelerates biological aging in young mothers.
The article contains several fallacies.
Bias
(85%)
The article discusses a study that found increased pregnancies correlate with signs of accelerated aging in young women. The author uses advanced epigenetic clocks to measure DNA methylation and compares the biological age of women with varying numbers of pregnancies against those who had never been pregnant, revealing that increased pregnancies are associated with accelerated biological aging in young women. However, no similar association was found between the number of pregnancies fathered and biological aging among men. The study highlights a significant gap in our understanding of the reproductive costs on women's health and points to the urgent need for supportive measures for young mothers, especially in contexts of limited resources.
The article discusses a study that found increased pregnancies correlate with signs of accelerated aging in young women. The author uses advanced epigenetic clocks to measure DNA methylation and compares the biological age of women with varying numbers of pregnancies against those who had never been pregnant, revealing that increased pregnancies are associated with accelerated biological aging in young women.
The study highlights a significant gap in our understanding of the reproductive costs on women's health and points to the urgent need for supportive measures for young mothers, especially in contexts of limited resources.
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Conflicts
Of
Interest (100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author has multiple conflicts of interest on the topics provided. The article mentions that Dr. Calen Ryan PhD is a researcher at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and also works with other researchers from Northwestern University, USC-Office of Population Studies Foundation, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
Dr. Calen Ryan PhD is a researcher at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Pregnancy may speed up biological ageing in women.
Women who have been pregnant appear biologically older than those who haven't, with the effect increasing with the number of pregnancies.
The study leverages epigenetic clocks to link pregnancy to accelerated biological aging in young women.
Each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process.
Accuracy
Each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process. Pregnancy has no effect on men.
Deception
(30%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author claims that pregnancy speeds up biological ageing in women but fails to provide any evidence for this claim. The study only found a correlation between pregnancy and an additional two to three months of biological ageing, which does not necessarily mean that it causes it.
The article states 'Pregnancy may speed up biological ageing in women' without providing any evidence for this claim.
Fallacies
(70%)
The article contains several fallacies. Firstly, the author uses an appeal to authority by stating that scientists at Columbia University found a link between pregnancy and biological aging. However, this statement does not provide any evidence or details about the study itself. Secondly, there is no clear distinction made between formal and informal fallacies in the article. Thirdly, there are several examples of dichotomous depictions throughout the article such as
Pregnancy may speed up biological ageing
Each individual pregnancy a woman reported was linked with an additional two to three months of biological ageing
Women who reported being pregnant more often during a six-year follow-up period showed a greater increase in biological aging during that period
Each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process. Pregnancy has no effect on men.
Accuracy
Researchers in the US studied the 'epigenetic clocks' of almost 2000 people.
Deception
(30%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, it states that having children makes women feel older but fails to mention that this study found no difference between men and women's biological age after pregnancy. Secondly, the author uses sensationalist language such as 'mums are up to 3 months older' when there is no evidence presented in the article to support this claim. Thirdly, the article states that each additional pregnancy during early adulthood sped up a woman's biological age by several months but fails to mention that this study only applies to young women aged between 18 and 24. Lastly, the author uses an analogy comparing DNA changes in tissues with barnacles attached to a ship which is not relevant or accurate when discussing epigenetic clocks.
The author uses sensationalist language such as 'mums are up to 3 months older' when there is no evidence presented in the article to support this claim. This statement is deceptive because it implies that pregnancy has a significant impact on a woman's biological aging process, when in fact the study found no difference between men and women.
The author uses an analogy comparing DNA changes in tissues with barnacles attached to a ship which is not relevant or accurate when discussing epigenetic clocks. This statement is deceptive because it implies that the study used an appropriate comparison, when in fact the analogy was irrelevant and did not accurately represent the concept of epigenetic clocks.
The article states that having children makes women feel older but fails to mention that this study found no difference between men and women's biological age after pregnancy. This statement is deceptive because it implies that there was a significant difference in the biological aging process for men and women, when in fact the study found no such difference.
The article states that each additional pregnancy during early adulthood sped up a woman's biological age by several months but fails to mention that this study only applies to young women aged between 18 and 24. This statement is deceptive because it implies that the effects of pregnancy on biological aging are universal, when in fact they only apply to a specific group of people.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains an informal fallacy known as a slippery slope. The author suggests that having children makes women feel older and then implies that it can increase their biological age. However, the study only found that each additional pregnancy during early adulthood sped up the aging process by several months for young high-fertility women in late adolescence (ages 18 to 24). The author also uses an appeal to authority when citing Dr Calen Ryan as a source. Additionally, there is no evidence presented that having children makes men feel older or increases their biological age.
Having children makes women feel older
Researchers have discovered that each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process.
Bias
(85%)
The author of the article is Xantha Leatham and she has a history of writing articles that are biased towards women's health issues. In this particular article, the author presents information about how pregnancy can speed up a woman's biological age by two to three months. The study also suggests that there may be something specific about pregnancy or breastfeeding that accelerates the biological aging process in young high-fertility women. However, it is important to note that this study only applies to young women between the ages of 18 and 24 who are still growing. Additionally, while giving birth can turn back some chemical markers on DNA, more research needs to be done to determine the extent of these effects on health outcomes.
Researchers have discovered that each pregnancy adds two to three months to a young woman's physical ageing process.
