Poverty truly kills faster. Social inequality and discrimination make our bodies age at the DNA level

Illustrative photo. Image: Nasha Niva

As the Telegram channel «Bel-Geek.com — Technologies and Science» writes, a large-scale study on this topic recently appeared in the authoritative scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour. The Biosocial team from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, in collaboration with scientists from Columbia University in New York, performed colossal analytical work.

They combined and analyzed data from 140 independent studies, covering almost 66,000 people aged from birth to 86 years. The goal was one: to find out how deeply social problems penetrate our physiology.

An epigenetic clock that cannot be deceived

To understand exactly how poverty affects the body, scientists used so-called "epigenetic clocks."

In simple terms, these are special chemical markers on our DNA. They work like an internal timer, showing not the passport age, but the real biological age of a person and the rate at which their body approaches decline.

Researchers compared these biological indicators with people's living conditions, taking into account their income level, education, overall social status, and experiences with discrimination. The result is more than convincing.

People who are forced to survive in worse social conditions or regularly face unfair treatment show clear signs of accelerated biological aging compared to those whose lives are happier and more secure.

Interestingly, this pattern became most evident thanks to new technologies. While the first generation of epigenetic clocks was primarily tuned to track chronological age and reacted poorly to social factors, more sophisticated algorithms of the second and third generations, which measure disease risk and the pace of aging itself, showed a powerful connection between physiology and social status.

The shadow of childhood

The most frightening thing about this process is that social inequality begins to destroy the body at the very beginning of life.

The study proves that children growing up in poor families with low socioeconomic status already show signs of accelerated biological aging at a young age.

Moreover, this biological burden stays with the person forever. Adults whose childhood was spent in poverty continue to age faster even decades later, regardless of how successful their later life turned out to be.

Discrimination was also a destructive factor. Analyzing data from American studies, scientists noted a clear racial and ethnic inequality in the rate of aging.

Black participants, whose lives have historically been more often associated with systemic racism and social pressure in the US, aged biologically faster than their white compatriots. A similar, though slightly smaller, difference was observed when comparing Hispanic Americans with the white population.

At the end of their analysis, the researchers note that their work not only proves the link between social conditions and the rate of aging but also helps to clarify which biological markers are most sensitive to external influences. According to scientists, in the future, these same epigenetic clocks could become an important tool.

With their help, it will be possible to assess the real effectiveness of social programs — from poverty reduction to educational reforms — in slowing down biological aging and improving public health.

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