The Surprising Link Between Your Location and Aging Speed

A study from McMaster University found that living in economically and socially deprived urban areas and experiencing depressive symptoms could independently contribute to accelerated biological aging, as determined by two DNA methylation-based estimators. The research did not find that neighborhood deprivation amplified the effect of depressive symptoms on biological aging, indicating that these two factors affect aging through different mechanisms. The study used two DNA methylation-based estimators to examine aging at the cellular level and estimate the difference between chronological age and biological age.