Women who had a last child after age 33 are twice as likely to live to age 95 as those who gave birth before age 29.
Would late pregnancy act as an elixir of youth? According to a study published in Menopause, having the youngest after 30 years is associated with increased telomere length.
Telomeres are the ends of chromosomes that protect the DNA sequence. Their length is a reflection of the biological age. They degrade naturally over time, but this process can be precipitated by stress, poor nutrition, smoking, or physical inactivity.
Previous work has shown that women who had their children late had a longer life expectancy than women who were pregnant before age 30. A study carried out using data from the cohort Long life family study has shown in particular that those who gave birth to their last child after age 33 are twice as likely to live to age 95 as those who have the youngest before age 29.
Protected telomeres
Conclusions confirmed by the analysis of these same data by researchers at Columbia University (United States). These scientists also argue that this increased longevity is linked to longer telomeres.
To highlight this association, the researchers studied the chromosomes of 387 women aged at least 70 participating in the cohort. Their measurement suggests that the proportion of women with telomeres among the longest 20% is higher among women who had their last pregnancy after 33 years (35%) than among other volunteers (20%).
Frequent late pregnancies
These results seem to defend women who give birth late. An increasingly frequent socio-demographic phenomenon. In France, the average age at first childbirth has passed the symbolic threshold of 30 years, and women are twice as numerous as twenty years ago to give birth after 40 years. In 2015, more than half of newborns had a mother in their thirties or more, or nearly 456,800 births.
However, the authors point out that having children at an advanced age does not guarantee a slowing down of aging. They point out that many personal and social factors influence the age of pregnancy as well as longevity, and hence the size of telomeres.
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