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Posted on Jul 26, 2006, 8 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
A new study says the rich seem to age slower than the poor. Dr. Tim Spector of St. Thomas Hospital in London conducted a study which implies that "Not only does social class affect health and age-related diseases, it seems to have an impact on the aging process itself."
London, England (AHN) - A new study says the rich seem to age slower than the poor.
Dr. Tim Spector of St. Thomas Hospital in London conducted a study which implies that "Not only does social class affect health and age-related diseases, it seems to have an impact on the aging process itself."
According to Reuters, the researchers compared telomere length of 1,552 women twins in Britain between the ages of 18 and 75 who were assigned to one of five groups based on National Statistics' Socio-Economic Classification. They showed that the poor have shorter telomeres, the caps on chromosomes that prevent them from fraying, which makes them biologically older than people of the same age in higher social groups.
In fact, when looking at factors like obesity, smoking and exercise, one's place in society still ranks as one of the easiest markers.
Dr. Spector tells reporters, "This is equivalent to what could be considered an extra seven years of biological aging."
"We are talking about a seven-year difference in telomere loss between people of the same age, same body mass index, same smoking status, same exercise status who happen to be in a manual job or non-manual job, which roughly divides the social classes."
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