Harsh Childhood Environments Linked to Drastic Chromosome Ageing
April 9th, 2014Via: New Scientist:
Children growing up in severely disadvantaged circumstances can experience drastic chromosome ageing. By the time they are 9 years old their telomeres – the caps on the ends of chromosomes that shrink each time cells divide – can be as short as those of someone decades older. And a particular combination of genes seems to make children flourish in nurturing environments but suffer in harsh environments.
Daniel Notterman from Penn State University in University Park and colleagues found the effect in a group of 40 9-year-old boys, half of whom were from extremely harsh backgrounds and half from privileged ones.
Telomeres protect chromosomes from damage, so their shortening over time is thought to be responsible for some of the negative effects of ageing.
Children whose mothers had changed partners more than once by the time they were 9 had telomeres 40 per cent shorter than those whose mothers didn’t change relationships. And those with mothers who’d gone to college had 35 per cent longer telomeres than those who didn’t, on average. They also found shorter telomeres were associated with harsh parenting and younger mothers.
“The social environment really conditions the way that these children are living, and their health,” says Notterman. “The fact that these people have early telomere shortening by the age of 9 could be an argument for some people who want to intervene earlier in the lives of children, by getting them in school, for example.”
