Hormonal
Menopause, particularly when occurring early or via surgical removal of ovaries, accelerates biological aging as measured by epigenetic age acceleration in blood.
This research indicates that the hormonal changes of menopause, especially if early or surgical, may speed up biological aging in blood. While you cannot reverse menopause, being aware of this accelerated biological aging might motivate discussions with healthcare providers about hormone therapy or other strategies to support long-term health, as hormonal changes appear to leave a mark on your body's molecular aging clock.
We find that increased epigenetic age acceleration in blood is significantly associated with earlier menopause (P = 0.00091), bilateral oophorectomy (P = 0.0018), and a longer time since menopause (P = 0.017).
Why this rating
Large sample sizes across multiple cohorts (n=1,864+), consistent meta-analysis results, and Mendelian randomization support, though causality is not definitively proven.
Source
Menopause accelerates biological aging
Morgan E. Levine et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2016
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1604558113
More from this paper
- Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) is associated with lower epigenetic age acceleration in buccal epithelium, suggesting a potential protective effect against epigenetic aging in this tissue.Good
- Surgical menopause (bilateral oophorectomy) before age 50 is associated with increased epigenetic age acceleration in both blood and saliva.Good
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