Reproductive timing matters when it comes to aging and age-related disease.  In a study now online at eLife¸ researchers determine that girls who begin menstruation before the age of 11 or women who give birth before the age of 21 have double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart failure and obesity and quadruple the risk of developing severe metabolic disorders. The study also reveals that later puberty and childbirth are genetically associated with longer lifespan, lower frailty, slower epigenetic aging and reduced risk of age-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

A new study reports evidence of a link between prenatal exposure to the widely used insecticide chlorpyrifos (CPF) and structural abnormalities in the brain and poorer motor function in New York City children and adolescents.

Researchers have found that better control of chronic eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)-associated inflammation during childhood leads to less stiffening of the esophagus, resulting in fewer disease complications. Using Endoluminal functional imaging (FLIP), the study team suggests this could be a key marker for assessing disease severity and progression.