May 21, 2009
Could multi-vitamins be the key to women living longer?
A new study suggests multi-vitamins could help a woman prolong her life simply because they can prevent parts of a woman's DNA from shortening.
More than five-hundred women participated in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study.
Researchers asked them about their use of vitamin supplements over a twelve-year span.
They found those who took multi-vitamins had longer strands of DNA called telomeres in their white blood cells.
Because telomeres shorten slightly when cells divide, researchers think preventing this shortening could protect new cells, which would in turn reduce the effects of aging.
However, they do admit that it's not clear whether the vitamins preserved telomere length or they actually lengthened life.
The findings appear in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.