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Heat accelerates aging, a new study finds : NPR

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Older people in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighborhood shade themselves from the sun. Exposure to heat can change the way people's genes work, potentially leading to long-term health impacts. Climate change is making heat waves more intense and last longer in many parts of the U.S. Phoenix heat is notorious for the harm it causes in the short-term, like heat stroke and heart problems. Just last year, temperatures there topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit for a record-breaking 188 days. More than 140 of those days surpassed 100 degrees. A new study published in Science Advances shows that prolonged heat exposure of that magnitude can even modify how people's genes behave, speeding up aging at the molecular level and potentially impacting people's long-term health. The impact is "similar to the effect of smoking and drinking," says Eunyoung Choi, a gerontologist at the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and the study's lead researcher. The study looked at peopl

Climate Heat can age you as much as smoking, a new study finds March 17, 2025 9:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Alejandra Borunda Heat can age you as much as smoking, a new study finds Listen &middot; 3:19 3:19 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> < iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5325273/nx-s1-5389166-1" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript

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