WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, FIR0002/FLAGSTAFFOTOS
High stress during fetal development could cause premature aging, according to a study in chickens, which published today (November 9) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Chickens exposed to high levels of stress hormones in the egg have overactive stress responses, shorter telomeres, and higher levels of oxidative damage—all key markers of aging—suggesting that chicken mothers, and possibly mothers of other species including humans, may unintentionally be shortening the lifespan of their offspring.
“I thought it was really interesting,” said Iowa State University avian physiologist Carol Vleck, who was not involved in the study. “There’s evidence in humans that maternal stress carries over into lots of things in offspring,” she added, and this paper provides a plausible mechanism that could hold true across ...
