Women age faster after having children, is it true? & bull; hello healthy

Having children is certainly an invaluable experience for every mother. However, the joy and sorrow that every woman experiences when accompanying the baby's growth and development is believed to accelerate the appearance of signs of aging, you know. So, is it true that women age faster after having children? If so, how come? Check out the reviews below.

Women age faster after having children

The relationship between having children and aging has been studied in several studies. One study on human reproduction shows that women who have children tend to age their body cells more quickly.

Each cell of the human body has 46 chromosomes. On each chromosome, there are two ends of the DNA called telomeres.

Telomeres are the key to the age of our body cells. You can imagine the telomeres resembling the protective plastic that is located at the end of a shoelace.

Over time, the body's cells will divide, so that the telomeres will shorten. If the telomeres continue to shrink, the DNA will slowly break down and the body's cells die.

This condition is actually very common in the human aging process. However, based on the results of the study, women who had children tended to have more short telomeres in their body cells than women who had never had children.

This means, the more short the number of telomeres, the faster the process of damage to body cells. That's why women who have children will get old faster.

In addition, shorter telomeres are associated with more health problems, such as an increased risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Not only that, in this research it is proven that telomeres in women who have children actually shorten faster than those who smoke and are obese.

In other words, being a mother actually accelerates the aging process more than smoking and having an unhealthy lifestyle.

Stress makes women old faster when they have children

Being a mother is not an easy task. The increasing responsibility and burden of thoughts that must be borne by women by having children, the risk of women experiencing stress also increases.

One of the reasons why women are prone to feeling stress after having children is difficulty managing time. Being a mother requires a woman to be smarter in dividing her time to take care of her little one, cook, wash clothes, and clean the house.

New problems will also arise when mothers have to think about finances and work outside the home. Not to mention if a harmonious relationship with her husband must be maintained.

It is not surprising that women age faster after having children, given the many demands of life that exist and the large chance for a mother to experience stress.

Then, how can stress accelerate the aging process? A study conducted by a group of researchers from PNAS America showed that chronic stress experienced by women can affect the size of the telomere in each cell of the body.

The heavier the severity and intensity of stress experienced by a woman, especially those who have the task of caring for someone, the shorter her telomere size will be.

Manage stress and adopt a healthy lifestyle

Even so, the results of this research still need to be investigated further. Indeed, the chances of premature aging in women who have older children. However, that doesn't mean you have to worry about this.

As previously explained, stress can be a trigger for telomere DNA to shorten quickly. So, what must be done is to manage stress well.

In the midst of the demands of responsibility as a mother and wife, of course, the pressure felt by women is quite large. Especially if you have not only one child. In order not to stress easily, you must still make time for me time.

Have your partner take the place of taking care of your little one for a few moments. In fact, you can even make a scheduleme time routine, so that you are stress free.