[An elderly couple spending time together. Photo Credit: Pixabay]

New research published on February 26th by New York University’s (NYU) School of Global Public Health found that the more women worry about aging, the faster their body may age. 

Using state-of-the-art "epigenetic clocks," a study of over 700 women revealed that those who were more worried about becoming older had faster biological aging in their blood. 

Epigenetic clocks are biochemical tests that measure DNA methylation patterns, or chemical modifications to DNA, to estimate a person's biological age, rather than their chronological age.

Concerns about fertility or appearance did not seem to have the same biological impact as fears about deteriorating health.

Subjective experiences may be influencing objective measurements of aging, according to Mariana Rodrigues, a PhD candidate at NYU School of Global Public Health and the first author of the study published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Anxiety associated with aging is more than just a psychological issue; it can have physical repercussions.

Common concerns about aging include worries about getting sick, deteriorating physically, and losing their independence, are common among adults. 

According to earlier research, persistent psychological distress can affect biological aging by altering the way genes are activated or deactivated.

Researchers have known from these earlier studies that anxiety, despair, and mental health in general are linked to several physical health outcomes, but they haven't yet examined whether worrying about aging and the aging process itself are related.

This anxiety about aging may be more common in women, and this midlife stress might be increased by worries about fertility and social expectations about youth and attractiveness. 

Midlife women may also play a variety of roles, such as taking care of their elderly parents and they tend to worry about if they may experience the same thing as older family members age and get ill.

To investigate the relationship between biological aging and aging anxiety, researchers analyzed data from 726 women who took part in the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study. 

Participants expressed concerns about losing their beauty, being sick, or growing too old to have kids.

Two established epigenetic clocks were also used to evaluate blood samples. 

One clock measured the rate of biological aging (DunedinPACE), and the other quantified the total amount of biological damage over time (GrimAge2).

According to the DunedinPACE clock, women who expressed greater worry about becoming older displayed signs of accelerated epigenetic aging. 

Previous studies have connected accelerated epigenetic aging to a higher risk of age-related illnesses and physical decline.

Not all concerns had the same effect as faster biological aging was most closely associated with worries about deteriorating health. 

Conversely, there was no significant correlation between epigenetic aging and worries about fertility or beauty. 

Researchers observe that while worry about reproduction and appearance may diminish with age, health-related concerns may persist over time.

The results highlight the close relationship between physical and mental health throughout life, despite the fact that they are frequently treated independently.

However, the researchers caution that the study only records a single moment in time and it is  unable to establish cause and effect or rule out the impact of other variables.

To further understand how anxiety about aging impacts long-term biological aging and how to help those who are experiencing these anxieties, more research is required.