Daily Health Care & Medical Tips

One study suggests that preserving the protective tips of DNA, it could slow down aging.

A recent study found that multivitamins can help women live longer by preventing parts of their DNA become shorter.

Telomeres, the ends of chromosomes, protecting them from harm. Because telomeres are shortened slightly when cells divide, the researchers speculated that prevent this shortening could protect the new cells, thus reducing the effects of aging.

“This study provides the first epidemiologic evidence that multivitamin use is associated with telomeres in leukocytes longer among women,” said lead researcher, Dr. Honglei Chen, director of aging and neuroepidemiology Group of the Institute National Environmental Health Sciences of USA. UU. “It remains unclear whether this association is causal.” The report appears in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

For the study, Chen’s team analyzed data on 586 women who participated in the Sister Study, involving women suffering from breast cancer and their sisters who did not have the condition. As part of the study, women were asked about their use of vitamin supplements in a period of twelve years. The researchers also took blood samples and DNA tested.

“We found that multivitamin use was associated with longer telomeres in leukocytes,” said Chen. “Compared with nonusers, users of multivitamin daily had, on average, telomeres in leukocytes 5.1 percent longer.”

This corresponds to about 9.8 years less than the reduction of age-related telomere researchers noted.

Vitamins C and E in the diet were also associated with longer telomeres, said Chen.

But it is unclear whether vitamins preserved the length of telomeres or actually lengthen life, said Chen.

“We could not exclude the possibility that the relationship was explained by a healthy lifestyle,” he said. “While reduced telomere length is associated with increased mortality and increased risk of chronic diseases, it is premature to conclude that multivitamin use is associated with a slower aging process. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, USA. UU.

Dr. David Katz, director of the Center for Prevention Research, School of Medicine, Yale University, believes there are mixed messages about the value of taking vitamins and only when definitive scientific data on the subject, taking them is a decision staff.

“Recent studies on vitamin supplementation have yielded disappointing results,” said Katz. “This study clearly going in the opposite direction, suggesting that a multivitamin may help protect our chromosomes and therefore ourselves, of aging.”

Katz said the study has important limitations. One is that the use of vitamins was observed, not allocated. “Maybe people healthier, less prone to the effects of aging, was also the most likely to take vitamins,” he added.

In addition, the health effects of slightly longer telomeres are not well established, Katz said. “Looking at the details of the study, it becomes clear that telomere length is not consistent with increased exposure to vitamins. The most frequent use of multivitamins was unrelated longest telomeres.