Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer have a way of killing overweight and obese people much sooner than lean people. Scientists at the Medical University of Graz in Austria may have found the reason. When our cells divide, small structures called telomeres are involved in moving chromosomes into “new” daughter cells. With each cell division, telomeres shorten, and shortening is associated with aging. The University of Graz, Austria, in March 2019, in the magazine Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, reported on the link between fat tissue and its distribution of shortened telomeres.
The researchers measured the length of telomeres in the white blood cells of three hundred and seventy-five participants: they compared the length of the telomeres with the amount and location of fat at fifteen sites. Telomere length was shorter in those who had higher levels of fat in their…
- neck,
- upper Arms,
- upper back,
- chest,
- belly area,
- hips,
- thighs, and
- calves.
Neck and hip fat were found to be strongly linked with shortened telomeres. From these results, the researchers concluded that excess fat is related to telomere shortening.
Medications used to treat diabetes have also been linked to telomere shortening. In January 2019, the magazine Aging reported on a study conducted at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Hubei, China, and Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangdong, China. Telomeres were measured in the white blood cells of 388 people with type 2 diabetes…
- Type 2 diabetics not taking medication had significantly shorter telomeres than treated diabetics.
- Type 2 diabetics treated with acarbose had shorter telomeres than those treated with other drugs.
From these results, the researchers concluded that acarbose might have an aging effect.
In February 2019, the Journal of Diabetes Complications reported on a study linking insulin treatment to telomere shortening. Researchers from the Capital Medical University in Beijing, China, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, China, paid close attention to sixty-four people who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes six years earlier. None had received insulin at the start of the study. The average length of telomeres decreased, although it was lengthened in a small number of individuals. Of 18 of the participants who had received insulin during the six years…
- 16 showed decreased telomere length, and
- 2 showed increased telomere length.
Insulin users were more than 17 times more likely to experience telomere shortening than non-users. Insulin use with high levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol was also linked to telomere shortening.
Although medication is necessary for many people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, controlling blood sugar levels without medication could be one way to increase your life expectancy, according to telomere studies.