Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse premature aging

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/esoc-wlf070516.php

Public Release: 8-Jul-2016
Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse premature aging
Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later
European Society of Cardiology

Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse the premature aging associated with obesity, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later.

"Obese people are prematurely old," said lead author Dr Philipp Hohensinner, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. "They have an increased level of inflammation, with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important in cell signalling) in their fat tissue. Obese people also have shorter telomeres at the end of their chromosomes."

Telomeres are the internal clock of each cell. Telomeres get shorter when a cell divides or when oxidative stress causes them to break. When the telomeres get very short the cell can no longer divide and is replenished or stays in the body as an aged cell. Previous research found that obese women had shorter telomeres compared to women with a healthy weight, which amounted to an added eight years of life.

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Weight loss from bariatric surgery appears to reverse the premature aging associated with obesity, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 Patients had longer telomeres and less inflammation two years later.

"Obese people are prematurely old," said lead author Dr Philipp Hohensinner, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria. "They have an increased level of inflammation, with higher levels of inflammatory cytokines (small proteins important in cell signalling) in their fat tissue. Obese people also have shorter telomeres at the end of their chromosomes."

Telomeres are the internal clock of each cell. Telomeres get shorter when a cell divides or when oxidative stress causes them to break. When the telomeres get very short the cell can no longer divide and is replenished or stays in the body as an aged cell. Previous research found that obese women had shorter telomeres compared to women with a healthy weight, which amounted to an added eight years of life.