Latinos Age More Slowly Than Other Californians

UCLA researchers have concluded California's largest minority group ages more slowly than other ethnicities, a finding that may shape healthcare policy and delivery in the coming decades.

            The study, by researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and published in the most recent issue of the journal Genome Biology, concluded that Latinos age more slowly than African-Americans, East Asians, whites and Africans. The study examined DNA samples from nearly 6,000 subjects. The focus of the study was epigenetics, or what is commonly known as the “biological clock.”

            Latinos are the biggest non-white ethnic group in California, with at least 14 million residing in California as of the 2010 census, comprising about 40% of the state's population.

            According to the study, Latinas' biological age after menopause was 2.4 years younger than non-Latinas of the same chronological age.

            “We suspect that Latinos’ slower aging rate helps neutralize their higher health risks, particularly those related to obesity and inflammation,” said Steve Horvath, a professor of human genetics at the Geffen School of Medicine.

            Latinos comprise an outsize role in California's healthcare demographics: Nearly 60% of the state's 3.8 million residents who lack health insurance, according to data from the California Health Care Foundation. And Latinos are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes than non-Latino whites, according to the California Department of Public Health. Diabetes-related issues were not widely discussed in the study.

            That the state's largest subgroup is more likely to have a chronic condition such as diabetes, less likely to have insurance and yet age more slowly could impact policymaking regarding healthcare delivery in the future, although the study did not address that specific issue.