Breast cancer treatment might be speeding up the aging clock. And radiation therapy may be the culprit, according to a new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Understanding this connection is vital, as it sheds light on potential implications for patients’ long-term health and treatment decisions.
How Cancer Therapies May Speed Up Biological Aging
Chronological age is simply how long one has been alive, while biological age is one’s physiological age. Biological age explains how two 50-year-old men can have dramatically different health; some people age more slowly. Cellular damage—caused by lifestyle, poor nutrition, diseases, and treatments—accelerates biological aging.
George Citroner
Author
George Citroner reports on health and medicine, covering topics that include cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions. He was awarded the Media Orthopaedic Reporting Excellence (MORE) award in 2020 for a story on osteoporosis risk in men.
