Study Finds Parental Alcohol Use Disorders Linked to Accelerated Aging in Children

In a recent published study journal in the Ageing and Disease have discovered that parents who struggle with alcohol use disorders can pass along symptoms of early ageing to their children, affecting them well into adulthood. The accelerated ageing effects such as high cholesterol, heart problems, arthritis, and early onset dementia that can be inherited from either parent individually. However, they become more severe when both parents struggle with alcohol abuse, particularly in male offspring.

As adults get older, they develop a biological condition called senescence, which is when cells slow down and stop dividing, limiting the body's ability to replace deteriorating cells. Using a mouse model, research by Golding and his team revealed that senescence also happens to be one of the early-ageing symptoms that offspring can inherit from parents who daily drink alcohol to the legal limit or more.

Golding's lab investigated the biological connection between parental alcohol use and child development. Recently, his team discovered that fathers, not just mothers, can play a role in children developing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Consequently, Golding advocates for parents to reduce alcohol consumption before conception.

This new discovery indicated that parents can pass on the benefits of healthy living to their children. Golding noted that healthy lifestyle choices can accumulate across generations, meaning that efforts to reverse ageing—such as through diet and exercise—can have lasting positive effects for future generations.

The study concluded that children of parents with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) exhibit signs of accelerated biological ageing compared to their peers. This was evidenced by shorter telomere lengths and other biomarkers associated with ageing. The findings suggest that the stress and environmental factors linked to parental AUDs may have a lasting impact on the biological ageing process in their children, potentially increasing their risk for age-related diseases and reducing their overall lifespan. The study highlights the importance of addressing parental AUDs not only for the well-being of the parents but also for the long-term health of their children.

References: Basel, A., et al. (2024) Parental Alcohol Exposures Associate with Lasting Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Accelerated Aging in a Mouse Model. Aging and disease. doi.org/10.14336/AD.2024.0722.