effects of climate on aging

Click here to see Aubrey's profile as a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholar. These folks are paying for Aubrey's college education. [By the way, I think whoever wrote up this profile mistook all of her years at LDS Girls' Camp as Girl Scouts. Oh well, close enough.]

Today I did some research on how climate affects the aging process. [By the way #2: you can also spell it "ageing," which is chiefly British] One article said

When your skin is dry, it becomes less pliable and less elastic. As a result, it
can’t bounce back as well as it could when it was supple and moist. The result
is that untreated dry skin over a prolonged period is going to look older, is
going to be more likely to show wrinkles, and may even be more prone to skin
disorders, such as psoriasis.

Another site says this

Hot temperatures combined with low humidity (such as you'd find in Arizona
or Southern California) suck the moisture from your skin, literally baking it.
Wind and cold combined with low humidity (such as you might find in high desert
or mountain regions) can cause dry, flaky skin as well. Dust and dirt blowing in
the air contributes to clogging pores. Dry climates can also cause certain skin
conditions like eczema, keratosis pilarsis, psoriasis and dermatitis to flare
up. Skin cancer is a concern in dry climates as well, where sunny days with
little or no cloud cover are plentiful and the sun's rays are strong...Obviously
if you live in a tropical climate with high humidity, you also face the dangers
of sun damage and skin cancer as noted above.

Although it's not technically a "climate," urban environments have certain
factors that affect the skin. High levels of smog and air pollution can clog the
pores, choking the skin, as well as cause free radical damage that accelerates
the visible aging process of the skin.

These tiny airborne particles do more damage than most people realize.
Because of their small size, these pollutants are often able to easily penetrate
tissues, airways and other membranes. Others are so small they can be easily
absorbed by the skin or mucus membranes of the mouth, airway and nasal passages
resulting in dramatic damage.

Ozone, one of the main components found in smog, promotes tissue
destruction through a strong chemical reaction and free radical damage that
results in loss of collagen and cellular integrity.

I never found anything that said that cool climates and humidity speed up the aging process. In fact, Berry & Kohn's Operating Room Technique (2004) says that one climate does not affect the aging process more than another. It is interesting enough that I actually hand copied the text into this blog posting (and added in the italics emphasis), because it wouldn't let me cut and paste. But it does seem to contradict itself a few times.

Exposure to natural and synthetic elements in the environment may
accelerate the aging process. Although climate is often blamed for an
increased rate of aging, studies indicate that the natural flow of the aging
process is comparable among different geographic regions. Tropical
climates are cited most often as areas of premature aging. Studies of
tropical populations show that aging is not accelerated by the temperature,
although mortality in these areas is affected by poor nutrition, parasites, and
tropical diseases. Both tropical and desert groups tested did not show any
mean blood pressure elevations diagnostic of hypertension, arteriosclerosis, or
coronary artery disease between the ages of 20 and 83 years. The most
astounding finding was the absence of angina pectoris and sudden heart attack
deaths. This may be partly a result of a physically strenuous lifestyle
and a diet that is low in animal fat.

Extremes of climate do not seem to accelerate the aging
process. Studies involving Eskimo populations have shown that,
despite the difficult conditions of their lifestyles, blood pressure and
cholesterol measurements do not vary significantly between the ages of 20 and 54
years. Mortality is affected by the harshness of the cold climate and the
risk of physical injury or death associated with hunting and lifestyle
practices.

Altitude has not been shown to accelerate the aging process.
Studies performed among Peruvian Indians have shown stable blood pressures in a
range lower than that of persons living at sea level. Incidence of
ischemic heart disease is very low at higher altitudes. In several
documented communities of mountain-dwelling people, many residents were older
than 100 years.

All very interesting. I guess what I take from this is that yer gonna age fastly wherever you live, unless you take steps to slow it down. Those steps are the subject of another post that I am never going to write.