These accelerated effects of aging, including high cholesterol, heart problems, arthritis and early dementia, can be passed down from either mother or father individually, but are made worse when both parents have alcohol problems, especially in male offspring.
“Scientists have wondered why children who grow up in homes where adults abuse alcohol are more likely to develop the disease,” said Dr. Michael Golding, professor in the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. “For example, we know that these children have behavioral problems that make it difficult to cope with stress and can lead to conflict with school systems or law enforcement.”
But what scientists did not know was what caused the premature aging and susceptibility to disease in these children.
“We now know that they inherit a defect in their mitochondria (the mitochondria, which are mainly responsible for producing energy) as a result of their parents’ substance abuse,” Golding said.
The defect causes early signs of age-related disease to appear in these individuals when they are still considered young, usually in their 40s.”
With this new understanding, Golding hopes that doctors will be able to work with patients to improve their mitochondrial health, and perhaps delay inherited dysfunction as they age, using approaches such as exercise and increasing their intake of certain vitamins.
As adults age, they develop a biological condition called senescence, which is when cells slow down and stop dividing, limiting the body’s ability to replace deteriorating cells.
Scientists have long known that excessive alcohol consumption can cause premature aging in adults. Using a mouse model, research by Golding and his team has revealed that aging is also a symptom of premature aging that children can inherit from parents who drink alcohol to the legal limit or more every day.
“We also see an increase in fat in the liver, which creates scar tissue,” Golding said. “It’s particularly common in sons. In fact, if both parents have a problem with alcohol, it can have a compounding effect on sons, making them more likely to develop liver disease.”
Golding’s lab focuses on the biological relationship between parental alcohol consumption and child development. His lab recently revealed that fathers, not just mothers, can contribute to children developing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which causes brain damage and developmental problems.
As a result, Golding continues to advocate for fathers to reduce their alcohol consumption before pregnancy.
This finding suggests that parents can also pass on the benefits of healthy living to their children. According to Golding, healthy lifestyle choices also multiply across generations, making efforts to reverse aging, through things like diet and exercise, beneficial for future generations.
Source: Medical Express
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2024-08-10 02:43:06
