Extreme heat shown to accelerate aging in older adults — study

Exposure to extreme heat might accelerate aging in older adults, with sizzling weather causing them to fade faster, a new study suggests.

People living in neighborhoods with more days of high heat experience greater biological aging on average than people living in cooler climes, researchers reported Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

“Participants living in areas where heat days, as defined as Extreme Caution or higher levels (90 degrees Fahrenheit or greater), occur half the year, such as Phoenix, Arizona, experienced up to 14 months of additional biological aging compared to those living in areas with fewer than 10 heat days per year,” lead researcher Eunyoung Choi, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Southern California School of Gerontology, said in a news release.

Biological age tracks declining function in a body’s cells and systems, as opposed to chronological age based on a person’s birthdate, researchers explained in background notes.

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