b'Health and WellnessStaying YouutthhffuullStaying YoAArreeyyoouuaassoollddaassyyoouut hiinnkkyyoouuaarree??thBy Megan Weigel Ah, the fountain of youth. If we knew whereand behaviors. DNA methylation can be it was and how to distribute it, you wouldnt bemeasured by specialty labs.reading this article. The good news is, you canA simple example of epigenetics is the take simple steps that not only improve youreffect a pregnant womans diet has on her health, but may turn back the hands of time. babys epigenetics. Eating unhealthy foods Yep, you read that right. We are not denedcan cause changes that last for years and may by our chronological age, or how many candlesincreasetheriskofdisease.Experiencing are on the cake. The concept of biological agestress, or managing it, during pregnancy can uses clinical and molecular biomarkers toalso have an effect on a babys health. predict mortality and age-related diseases.Another biological age marker is telomere The biomarkers that biological age representslength. Telomeres are the parts on the ends of are affected by some things we cant control,chromosomes that keep them intact. Shorter such as genetics, and many others that wetelomeresareassociatedwithahigher can control, such as health-related behaviors. chronological age, and also with mortality Our chronological age cant be changed.and age-related diseases. Studies suggest Our biological age can. Have you ever seenhealthy behaviors can lengthen telomeres. someone who is the same age as you butTelomere length can also be measured by looks 10 years older, or several years youngerspecialty labs and is commonly ordered by than you? We age at different rates and lifestylefunctional and integrative medicine providers factors have a lot to do with youth. What youto investigate biological age.see in those people who either exude youth,How does this relate to MS? In 2019, or age, is the effect of biological age. researchers at the University of California, San Lets get nerdy for a minute and talk aboutFrancisco, found shorter telomere length was how this works. In the past decade, science haslinked to disability, regardless of chronological made tremendous strides in genetics. One ofage. In fact, study subjects with shorter telomere these strides is understanding how our geneslengthhadhigherEDSSscoresandlower express themselves. Cells use a mechanismbrain volumes. Telomere shortening happens called DNA methylation to turn genes off andmore rapidly when there is greater oxidative on, which controls their capabilities to helpstress. Since shorter telomeres are also seen in the body, or cause harm. This is one of theheart disease, dementia, and other autoimmune processesofepigenetics:howthe workofdiseases, you may already be guessing what your genes is affected by your environmentcauses oxidative stress.msfocusmagazine.org 12'