Research

Hormonal

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.

This study found that women using Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT) had lower epigenetic age in their cheek cells (buccal epithelium) compared to non-users. This suggests MHT might help slow biological aging in this specific tissue. However, this effect was not seen in blood, so the overall benefit is complex. Discuss the potential benefits and risks of MHT with your healthcare provider.

GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
a lower epigenetic age in buccal epithelium was found for women who underwent menopausal hormone therapy (P = 0.00078).
Morgan E. Levine et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2016

Why this rating

Statistically significant association (P=0.00078) in a large cohort (NSHD), but limited to one tissue type.

Source

Menopause accelerates biological aging

Morgan E. Levine et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2016

DOI 10.1073/pnas.1604558113

cohort · n=2810Cited 500×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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