Social determinants of health linked to faster genetic aging

Scientists already knew that cardiovascular health can be affected by social determinants of health that include a person's neighborhood, education, access to healthy foods and economic stability. But new research offers a clue as to why: accelerated biological aging.

For the new study, researchers considered epigenetic age acceleration. Epigenetics research looks at how the environment can affect the way DNA is read and offers a potential explanation for how one's lived experience can alter the way their genes work. Unlike chronological age, epigenetic age is a measure of those changes in cells, tissues and organ systems.

Researchers analyzed the health data of 2,932 Black and white adults in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, or CARDIA, which began in the mid-1980s. The participants were 45 years old on average and had enrolled in CARDIA in their late teens or 20s.

To measure cardiovascular risk, researchers examined an individual's coronary artery calcium level – the amount of plaque in the vessels that supply blood to the heart – and the left ventricular mass index, a measurement of the thickness and efficiency of the heart's left pumping chamber.

During their seventh year of participation, the individuals were measured for certain social determinants of health: residential racial segregation, neighborhood poverty levels, food insecurity, difficulty paying for basic necessities or health care, and the education level of participants or their parents.

Researchers found that by the 25th year of participation, all of the measured social determinants were associated with thicker ventricle muscles in the heart. Food insecurity and difficulty paying for basic necessities and health care also were associated with higher coronary artery calcium...