Although it’s old knowledge that most men lose the Y chromosome in their blood cells as they age, could the loss be correlated to the development of cardiac diseases? A recent study showed that this might be the case.
When blood cells divide, the Y chromosome sometimes is kicked out into the rest of the body, causing it to disintegrate. 40% of men lose their Y chromosome by the age of 70, this percentage increasing by 13% by age 93. Most scientists agree that the Y chromosome is no more than “ a genetic wasteland” compared to its X counterpart, which holds nearly all of the genes used by male cells. However, the Y chromosome may play a more significant part in the health of older men than previously believed.
The Science Journal published a study that tackled this question last Thursday. It used male mice with genetically manipulated blood cells that lacked the Y chromosome. These mice developed scar tissue around the heart, causing various heart conditions and a shortened life span. The scientists concluded that the same thing could happen in a human male, explaining the difference between a male and female’s average life span.
Dr. Lars Forberg, a researcher at Uppsala University, conducted a study in 2013 on this topic. He collected the data from 1,153 aging Swedish men.
“I had the data in a few hours, and I was like, ‘Wow,’” Dr. Forsberg said. “I saw that men with loss of Y in a large proportion of their blood cells survived only half as long, 5.5 years versus 11.1 years.”
CHIP, a mutated blood cell, increases the likelihood of both heart disease and cancer mutation. University of Virginia’s Dr. Kenneth Walsh specializes in these cells. After hearing about Dr. Forsberg’s study, Dr. Walsh became interested in how similar the two mutations were. He worked with Dr. Forsberg to examine the data of over 200,000 men.
“Men with mosaic loss of Y had a 41 percent increased risk of dying from any cause during a seven-year follow-up and a 31 percent increased chance of dying from any cardiovascular disease,” stated NYT reporter Gina Kolata, “The more cells that lost Y chromosomes, the greater the risk.”
Besides women with lymphatic leukemia or Turner’s syndrome, it is very uncommon for a female to lose one of her X chromosomes. However, women with Turner’s syndrome face similar health risks as a man without a Y chromosome, as Turner’s syndrome causes a woman to lack an X.
When blood cells divide, the Y chromosome sometimes is kicked out into the rest of the body, causing it to disintegrate. 40% of men lose their Y chromosome by the age of 70, this percentage increasing by 13% by age 93. Most scientists agree that the Y chromosome is no more than “ a genetic wasteland” compared to its X counterpart, which holds nearly all of the genes used by male cells. However, the Y chromosome may play a more significant part in the health of older men than previously believed.
The Science Journal published a study that tackled this question last Thursday. It used male mice with genetically manipulated blood cells that lacked the Y chromosome. These mice developed scar tissue around the heart, causing various heart conditions and a shortened life span. The scientists concluded that the same thing could happen in a human male, explaining the difference between a male and female’s average life span.
Dr. Lars Forberg, a researcher at Uppsala University, conducted a study in 2013 on this topic. He collected the data from 1,153 aging Swedish men.
“I had the data in a few hours, and I was like, ‘Wow,’” Dr. Forsberg said. “I saw that men with loss of Y in a large proportion of their blood cells survived only half as long, 5.5 years versus 11.1 years.”
CHIP, a mutated blood cell, increases the likelihood of both heart disease and cancer mutation. University of Virginia’s Dr. Kenneth Walsh specializes in these cells. After hearing about Dr. Forsberg’s study, Dr. Walsh became interested in how similar the two mutations were. He worked with Dr. Forsberg to examine the data of over 200,000 men.
“Men with mosaic loss of Y had a 41 percent increased risk of dying from any cause during a seven-year follow-up and a 31 percent increased chance of dying from any cardiovascular disease,” stated NYT reporter Gina Kolata, “The more cells that lost Y chromosomes, the greater the risk.”
Besides women with lymphatic leukemia or Turner’s syndrome, it is very uncommon for a female to lose one of her X chromosomes. However, women with Turner’s syndrome face similar health risks as a man without a Y chromosome, as Turner’s syndrome causes a woman to lack an X.
