Smoking and alcohol use are linked to premature aging

Cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol use cause epigenetic changes to DNA that reflect accelerated biological aging in distinct, measurable ways. Patterns of DNA methylation, a molecular modification to DNA that affects when and how strongly a gene is expressed. Methylation patterns change in predictable ways as people age, as well as in response to environmental exposures, such as cigarette smoke and alcohol. Dr. Philibert's laboratory identified two specific locations in the genome, base pairs cg05575921 on the AHRR gene and cg23193759 on chromosome 10, at which methylation levels were highly associated with smoking and alcohol consumption, respectively. They estimated each person's biological age using a previously validated epigenetic "clock" based on methylation levels at 71 locations in the genome, as measured by the widely used Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Then, they calculated the difference between biological age and chronological age, and assessed the relationship between tobacco and alcohol use and premature aging. Interestingly, moderate alcohol use about one to two drinks per day was correlated with the healthiest aging, while very low and high consumption were linked to accelerated aging.

Source: American Society of Human Genetics