Living in a privately rented home is linked to more rapid biological ageing, according to researchers who tested DNA and found the tenure is associated with twice the ageing effect of obesity and half that of smoking.
The peer-reviewed study of 1,420 UK householders found housing circumstances can “get under the skin” with significant consequences for health, said academics at the University of Essex and the University of Adelaide . Their findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The study tracked a process called methylation in people who are part of the ongoing UK Household Longitudinal Survey.
As an observational study, the research was not able to determine what is causing the link between housing tenure and biological ageing, and the DNA samples analysed so far were only from white, European householders.
But the good news for renters is that the process is reversible and “improving or changing the conditions for people with faster biological ageing can correct this”, the authors state.
The authors stressed that the DNA methylation-derived measures are relatively new and more data will be collected to assess how biological ageing markers change over time.
Responding to the study, Dan Wilson Craw, the deputy chief executive of the campaign group Generation Rent, said: “Our home is so important to our health.
Private renters, who face the threat of arbitrary eviction and live in the worst quality housing, are particularly vulnerable to poor health as a result.
The original article contains 545 words, the summary contains 161 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
