In Rachael Rettner’s article “Do Kids Take Years Off Your Life?” it is imperatively evident that there is a significant relationship between the bearing of children and the rate of aging in women (Rettner, 2016). According to Rachael, women who have given birth are seemingly more biologically older than their counterparts who have not given birth. The study that led to this conclusion was conducted between 1999 and 2002 involving 1,556 women aged between 20 and 44 years (Rettner, 2016). Accordingly, the blood samples of the women were then subjected to assessment with a lot of focus being redirected at the length of the telomeres. Telomeres can be described as the caps that found at the end of the chromosomes whose role is to minimize the chances of potential damage. Telomeres tend to shorten as people grow old even though the rate is not the same in all individuals (Djahanbakhch, Ezzati & Zosmer, 2011). That means that people who have longer telomeres have better chances of having their cells divide more hypothetically compared to that of their counterparts who have shorter cells. Hence, telomeres are used as the markers of the genetic age of individuals, not chronological age (Rettner, 2016).In the course of this study, it became apparent that women who had given birth to at least one child had their telomeres being at least 4 percent shorter than that of their colleagues who had not given birth (Rettner, 2016). In what was established as the reliability of the study, other factors such as the chronological age of women and their smoking habits were also put into consideration because they can affect the length of telomeres that women have. Apparently, the result of the study remained unchanged. After arriving at a reliable directive regarding the result of the survey, the researchers developed a hypothesis stating that bearing of children is associated with an increase in the levels of stress. Hence, the fact that stress is one factor that could lead to the decrease in the length of telomeres means that it was sufficient reason to prove the cause of the genetic aging of women after giving birth (Cherif et al., 2013).
I find this article appropriate because it provides a biological explanation for the difference that exists between women who have given birth in contrast to their counterparts who have not. Far from that, my course provides me with a better platform for understanding the article because it offers a convenient environment for understanding the involved biological concepts. This article caught my attention in the first place because its heading was eye catching. Thus, I wanted to read deep into the findings of the study to establish if it is possible for women to be genetically older than their chronological age after they have given birth (Djahanbakhch, Ezzati & Zosmer, 2011).
This article is important in my life because it provides an explanation behind the issue of aging that differs between women who have given birth in contrast to their colleagues who have not (Rettner, 2016). Contrary to that, the scientific knowledge explained in this text affects my life directly because it provides me with a sense of affirmation when it comes to explaining the concept to women who need answers regarding the effect of giving birth to their aging rates. From an individual perspective, I find it convenient to provide funding to the study because there are lots of unanswered questions about giving birth that could be addressed from the knowledge that has been explained in this study. Thus, the taxpayer’s money should be used to fund this research because it enlightens women and other interested stakeholders about issues that have implications for their lives. Finally, I rate this research way off higher compared to other studies because it provides detailed, coherent and comprehensive information that are required in the current society (Cherif et al., 2013).
- Cherif, H., et al.(2013). “Ageing and telomeres: A study into organ‐and gender‐specific telomere shortening.” Nucleic acids research 31.5 : 1576-1583.
- Djahanbakhch, O., M. Ezzati, & A. Zosmer.(2011). “Reproductive ageing in women.” The Journal of pathology 211.2 (2011): 219-231.
- Rettner, R.. (2016). Do Kids Take Years Off Your Life? Giving Birth May Make Cells ‘Older’. , www.livescience.com/56757-giving-birth-telomeres.html
