"A study of more than 1,500 female twins found that poorer women were aging faster than well-heeled ones, British researchers said yesterday.
"Not only does social class affect health and age-related diseases, it seems to have an impact on the aging process itself," said Dr. Tim Spector, of St. Thomas' Hospital in London.
Researchers explained that the higher stress levels in the downtrodden might lead to increased cell damage in their body.
"The idea is that psychological stress itself, or the loss of control, might have a biological impact," Spector said. "It might raise levels of oxidative stress in the body and make cells turn over more quickly."
The scientists focused on telomeres - the ends of chromosomes that prevent DNA from breaking down.
When cells replenish in the body, the telomeres grow shorter over time - and poorer people are shown to have the shortest telomeres of all, according to the study, published in Aging Cell journal.
The telomere loss "is equivalent to what could be considered an extra seven years of biological aging," Spector said.
"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 nonmanual job."
An American cell-biology pioneer said the researchers have come up with "a very interesting observation," but there could be other explanations. "We don't know if telomere loss is the cause of aging," said Dr. Leonard Hayflick, an anatomy professor at the University of California at San Francisco.
'Does it cause aging? That's a big question mark.'"
Can you imagine the furor when New Oyanns residents learn of this? "Where be my tel0-shots I need be get'n?"
Then of course there's the LoonMedia headlines: "Bush Withholds Anti-Aging Medications For The Poor"
Then the sci-fi stories made into movies of the week for Lifeline about the black market for wrinkle-erasers.
The world is getting more interesting by the nanosecond.
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