Just in case you needed another reason to stop smoking, a new study reveals that smoking and obesity actually cause people to age faster at the cellular level.
A new study published in the July 14 online issue of the British medical journal 'The Lancet' concluded that 'Our findings suggest that obesity and cigarette smoking accelerate human aging.'
The London based research team measured telomeres which are caps on the end of chromosomes. Each time a cell divides, the length of telomeres is reduced.
The study examined the length of telomeres in 1,122 female twins between the ages of 18 and 76. All of the subjects filled out a questionnaire about their lifetime smoking history.
The study found that after taking lifestyle factors into account, obese people had 8.8 years of extra aging in the telomeres of their white blood cells.
Meanwhile, smokers or ex-smokers averaged an extra 4.6 extra years of aging in the telomeres of their white blood cells. Those who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years showed 7.4 more years of damage.
The scientists also believe that as telomeres shrink, the likelihood of mutation increases as chromosomes become less stable.
Researchers have not confirmed that shorter telomeres equal a shorter life span for the organism. In addition, it was not determined if the telomeres in other cells were also shorter in smokers and obese individuals.
Nevertheless, the study did find conclusive links between obesity, smoking and poorer health. 'Our results emphasize the potential wide-ranging effects of the two most important preventable exposures in developed countries – cigarettes and obesity,' the team concluded.
