I’m not even sure how to put into words my question but I’ll try.
From what I understand telomeres shorten during cell turnover which causes ageing. Therefore do activities that cause cellular damage like resistance training, tattoo or laser resurfacing etc shorten your lifespan or cause you to age?
In: 36
As far as resistance training is concerned, it’s worth noting that muscle cells don’t reproduce in adulthood; you have all of the muscle cells you ever will by the time you’re done growing – and you actually have most of them at birth.
The damage you’re describing happens, as you say, during cell reproduction. No cell reproduction => no telomere shortening.
Mitochondria have their own DNA and *do* reproduce inside of muscles, and this reproduction *is* stimulated by exercise. But mitochondria, like their wild bacterial cousins, have DNA that comes in a chromosome shaped like a circle, with no telomeres to shorten.
The skin cells exposed to the world are, for the most part, not cells that reproduce. Rather, they are generated by processes that occur further down, in layers not normally damaged by surface stuff.
That said, you may have heard of a little thing called “skin cancer” mostly caused by exposing your skin to too much UV light. There have been several studies suggesting no connection between tattoos and skin cancer, though I don’t know about laser resurfacing.
Latest Answers