Singapore : For young women seeking longevity and youth, a little patience may help you live longer, a new study suggests. Researchers from National University of Singapore (NUS) have found that young impatient Chinese women exhibit signs of more rapid ageing at the cellular level, reports PTI.
They found the cells of impatient young women ageing faster than their more patient peers, as characterised by shorter leukocyte telomeres. This novel study is the first to link a fundamental determinant of decision making such as impatience to a molecular marker for cellular ageing in humans.
The study deemed those seeking earlier gratification as impatient.
Researchers measured the length of participants’ leukocyte telomeres – the caps at the end of each DNA strand which protect the chromosome. Telomeres decrease in length each time a cell divides and ages, and once they reach a critical short length, the cell will no longer divide.
Researchers discovered that females who were identified as impatient had shorter telomere length. Existing research suggests that telomere length could be an initial predictor of disease and earlier mortality. Older cells, and older people, generally have shorter telomeres, researchers said.
