Can pregnancy cause women to age faster?

Getting pregnant is seen as a marvel of nature and a lovely way to produce a new human being.

But there might be a price for the feat.

Researchers have found that a single pregnancy can accelerate a woman’s biological age.

According to a new study that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pregnant women are more likely than non-pregnant women to show symptoms of accelerated biological ageing.

The biological ageing process of a woman accelerated with the number of pregnancies she had.

Let’s take a closer look.

Pregnancy accelerates ageing

The researchers examined blood samples from 1,735 people from the Philippines, all between the ages of 20 and 22 in 2005, using data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey.

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The study also evaluated the reproductive and sexual histories of the participants, as well as the number of pregnancies they had, taking into consideration socioeconomic and pollution-related factors that may have an impact on the ageing process of both the male and female participants, according to The Independent.

The researchers compared the outcomes with information gathered from a more limited group of female participants between 2009 and 2014.

The team examined variables that may contribute to or affect accelerated biological ageing in the blood samples, namely “epigenetic clocks,” which represent the age of a cell.

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Cells have molecular imprints throughout time that reveal which DNA sequences have been altered and which genes have been switched on or off, according to The Independent. Notably, epigenetic clocks are used as they provide a snapshot of the changes that have taken place in a cell throughout time, including the influence of external factors like stress and physiological and psychological experiences.

After identifying 19 different mutation indicators to measure a participant’s biological age using six epigenetic clocks, the researchers concluded that women who had given birth at least once were biologically older than those who had never given birth.

According to the research, women who have given birth have a three per cent annual rise in biological age; and women who have given birth more than once are believed to age up to five months more quickly.

By evaluating the same six epigenetic clocks in male participants, the team found that having a kid had no effect on biological ageing in the men who had welcomed children with their partners.

The link between the two

Associate research scientist Calen Ryan, who has been studying the long-term effects of pregnancy at the Columbia University Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health, and his team theorised that the acceleration in biological ageing primarily occurs due to the excessive physical toll pregnancy can take on the body.

Ryan told Time magazine, “We’re learning that pregnancy has long-term effects on the body. They are not all bad, but it seems to increase the risk of some disease and all-cause mortality.”

“The idea is that the body performs certain functions but is always constrained about optimising any one of those functions, and it creates a trade-off. So, energy going toward reproductive function may draw away from the maintenance of the body.”

However, he emphasised that more research is needed to conclude whether pregnancy really makes women age faster.

He told the magazine, “We have evidence that pregnancy can speed up biological ageing. And we have evidence that there is recovery after pregnancy. What we don’t know precisely is how much of that recovery compensates for pregnancy, and how much it varies from person to person, or from country to country.”

Chances of age reversal

A Yale School of Medicine study team led by Kieran O’Donnell claimed in a scientific journal paper that Cell Metabolism slowly reverses the dramatic acceleration of ageing brought on by pregnancy a few months after giving birth.

“The reversal in postpartum in terms of the effect size was much greater than the increase in biological age found during pregnancy. That raises the provocative idea that pregnancy may be associated with potential rejuvenation. But we simply can’t answer that question for sure with the data we have so far.”

Meanwhile, experts have suggested certain post-pregnancy lifestyle adjustments can help reverse or mitigate these effects.

Dr Sonam Simpatwar, gynaecologist at Railway Hospital, Mumbai, told The Indian Express, “Nutrition is the key.”

She said getting adequate and appropriate nutrients, regular physical activity, weight management, reducing stress can help slow down the ageing process.

With inputs from agencies