Loading...
With each division of healthy cells, telomeres (the ends of chromosomes) get shorter. Thus, the length of a cell’s telomeres is a measure of its biological age. Researchers asked whether shorter telomeres might be a risk factor for coronary heart disease, an age-associated disease.
Telomere length in circulating leukocytes was examined in 1542 men (age range, 45 to 64) enrolled in a large randomized trial of statins. During 5 years of follow-up, 484 participants experienced coronary events. The risk of coronary events was nearly 50% higher in individuals with short telomeres than in those with long telomeres. Telomere length was as strong an independent predictor of coronary events as conventional risk factors. As judged by telomere length, …