Reference News Network July 27 report: According to the UK's New Scientist website on July 25, research suggests that negative social relationships may accelerate aging. The content is translated as follows:

Many of us have people in our lives who cause more anxiety than happiness. These people not only make us depressed but may also accelerate our aging.

Li Byung-kyu from New York University and his colleagues analyzed the impact of negative social relationships on small chemical changes in DNA (called methylation marks). This is an example of epigenetics, showing how your behavior and environment can bring about changes that affect how genes function. Li said, "As we age, the patterns of these marks change in a predictable way."

He said, "More than half of adults say that at least one troublemaker exists among their close friends or family."

These individuals seem to have a significant impact on people's epigenetic markers. Each troublemaker causes biological aging to accelerate by approximately 0.5%, making their biological age about 2.5 months older than their expected physiological age on average.

Negative social relationships may trigger chronic inflammatory stress responses. Li's team observed that people with such relationships had higher levels of these markers, which may damage the immune system.

Li said, "If the proportion of troublemakers in your social network is high, the biological impact is comparable to the difference between non-smokers and smokers."

Evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar found that our friendships are governed by secret rules, which are based on various aspects from gender to sleep time. Our unique social fingerprints help determine whom we are attracted to, which friendships can last, and why some friends can eventually be replaced.

This effect is most evident in those who also provide some form of social support to each other. Li said, "The person who comforts you today may criticize you tomorrow, which causes greater physiological harm than relationships you can simply classify as bad and thus avoid."

Alex Haslam from the University of Queensland in Australia said that this paper "certainly aligns with other studies exploring such issues, highlighting the importance of social relationships for health."

He also believes that the impact of group belonging on aging may be greater than that of individual influences. He said, "If I am a member of a book club or a choir, the factors affecting my health will be my sense of identification with the entire group rather than my compatibility with each member." (Translated by Zhao Feifei)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7531686595804660274/

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