Aging in ME/CFS, do we look older?

[lucy]

I saw an article "Premature Aging Caused by Some HIV Drugs, Study Shows" where they say the hiv drugs damage mitochondrion. As one of the theories for CFS/ME is mitochondrion dysfunction, I thought it would be interesting to discuss if the symptom of aging is present among CFS/ME patients.

I personally look younger (maybe mainly because I am underweight), but it seems my body is regenerating extremely slowly - last time I got sunburn, the skin started to peel off after two weeks, instead of two days.

Also there is a test measuring end glycolysis proteins, which can be mapped to the age, and according to the test I was older by 5 years. Such results can be received with a prolonged illness or diabetes, I was told.

Did you notice any abnormal aging?

 

[Wonko]

As far as I am aware when not crashed I look younger than my age by several years, this could just be an effect of the fact that my diet and lifestyle (eg i dont drink, or do much of anything) is healthier than the general population - ie I dont look younger, they look older.

 

[alex3619]

Hi lucy, anecdotally I have heard it said we look younger. Sometimes much younger. However, this is just skin deep - we feel much older, and I suspect our chemistry is that of an older person. None of this has any hard evidence, but I think it likely. The skin might be different for some reason, and I think we often judge age by skin tone etc. Bye, Alex

 

[rwac]

Less sun exposure could be another reason for looking younger.

 

[Esther12]

Less sun exposure could be another reason for looking younger.

True. Less work/activity/injuries/alcohol could play a role too.

 

[maryb]

I'ved always looked a lot younger than my age, unfortunately the ME is dragging me forward fast, I'm digging my heels in, sparks are flying but I think its winning

 

[lizw118]

One of the side effects of the HIV drugs is a loss of fat in the face. I believe that is what causes those patients to look much older. Those drugs actually cause people to have less mitochondria than control subjects, so it is not a matter of dysfunction, necessarily, more a matter of quantity. It seems like a different issue.
Liz

 

[Sushi]

Somewhere there is another thread on this. The general consensus on that thread was that most of us look younger than we are--me too. No idea why??

Maybe someone who has mastered the search engine, could link this thread to the older one.

Sushi

 

[anniekim]

I've been told I look younger than my age and a good friend of mine with m.e looks ten years younger than her age.

As I read that people with m. E have a lot of oxidative stress, I thought this might mean we look older as I thought oxidative stress accelerated things like wrinkling etc (am I off the mark here?), but a lot of people with me do seem to report looking younger than their years. I do wonder whether it's due to our lifestyle of no drink, very little sun exposure etc. . .

 

[justy]

Hi, since my last relapse 3 years ago i have definately noticed an acceleration in ageing, my hair has started greying very quickly and my hands look older and wrinkly. There has been an acceleration of lines on my face also. Of course this could be my age - i am 41, and i have had 4 children (definately ages you!) I have had M.E for 17 years and before this i always looked younger than my years. I have had mito testing done and i know that i have a very high cell free DNA, which i thought could be contributing to this as well as gene blockages for SODase and some other mito disruption going on.
Of course on the other side of things i am continually being told that i look so well -i have gained weight and have sparkly eyes and good glossy hair -mainly due to my toxin free lifestyle, early nights and supplement regime. It seems you cant win!

 

[ukxmrv]

Most ME people I meet look young for their age. Even a family member who gets sun exposure looks very young. It seems to be (amoung patients I know) that many people do look young and then at some stage they suddenly accelerate into a rapid decline. That is if they live that long.

I asked one doctor and she thought that her ME patients were really looking after themselves with diet and "healthy living" (like no smoking) but I suspect that there is some other reasons for this.

Just wished we had more data on ageing and deaths.

 

[taniaaust1]

Very interesting topic.

Ive always looked far younger then my years.. at 35 I had people at times mistaking me for being 17-19 yrs. I once went to a nightclub for a sisters birthday and forgot mhy ID and they wouldnt let me in..all 3 of my younger sisters (up to 11 years younger then me) the guy let in and I was the only one he asked for ID as he thought i was too young, (I was in my 30s to mid 30s at the time).
Another time I had a year 12 high school boy come onto me, he thought I was around his age. (I was in my 30s at the time).



Now at 40 I probably look in my 20s or early 30s. I too really wonder why we look so much younger when one would think it would be the opposite case. (maybe all our supplements are helping our skins??)

The rest of my body is like older then it should be, hair thou started to go grey at 19 years (I dye it with henna.. not one of my sisters have grey hair yet), I got osteroarthritis diagnosed in several places by scans when 35 yrs .. now at 40 Ive got reading glasses cause my eyes are aging. Ive also got my frozen shoulder before I was 40 (they are rare in younger age groups).

 

[alex3619]

The rest of my body is like older then it should be, hair thou started to go grey at 19 years (I dye it with henna.. not one of my sisters have grey hair yet), I got osteroarthritis diagnosed in several places by scans when 35 yrs .. now at 40 Ive got reading glasses cause my eyes are aging. Ive also got my frozen shoulder before I was 40 (they are rare in younger age groups).

Hi taniaaust1, I too started to go grey at an early age. I do wonder if that is connected with ME/CFS. Bye, Alex

 

[Sallysblooms]

We can't forget that most people need reading glasses at 40 and many get grey early. My hubby and even my son got grey early. They are far from having CFS.

I look younger and I am sure that is from staying out of the sun. Supplements and hormones help too. I like most people have to take Vit D3 since I am not outside much, especially when hot.

 

[taniaaust1]

We can't forget that most people need reading glasses at 40 and many get grey early. My hubby and even my son got grey early. They are far from having CFS.
.

It depends on the family.. if its in ones genes one can expect it.. if it isnt in the genes.. you dont expect it and it may be indicating something difference about you then the rest of your family.

 

[lucy]

Thanks for replies! We can almost make ME/CFS awareness slogan: "Want to look younger? - All you need is ME/CFS" and we write all the symptoms as side effects in small font It could also be promoted as the only psychological disorder which makes people look younger (Simon Wessley should be invited to explain the specifics) - hopely the sarcasm of impossibility would be an effective advertisement.

 

[Calathea]

I have no idea how this came up when I was looking up sunburn (lovely picnic yesterday, but I got sunburned for the first time in nine years and am a bit grouchy about it), but I've had ME since I was 19. In my teens, people routinely took me for an adult. I think the shift happened at about the age of 22. I'm now 37, and people take me for late twenties or early 30s and are astonished to hear my real age. Women get infantilised a lot, short people (I'm 4'11) get infantilised a lot, and disabled people get infantilised a lot, so I am thoroughly fed up with being taken for so much younger. I read somewhere that people who look younger tend to live longer. That's evidently not true of us! I wonder why we look younger? I don't think that high a proportion of people with ME are eating fantastic diets and taking wonderful supplements, I think this forum self-selects for that, and most people can't afford it or don't know about it.

 

[Martial]

Less sun exposure could be another reason for looking younger.

Definitely, one main reason peoples skin looks older then their age, or "pre mature aging" is from sun damage. At least until they hit the age where collagen just stops being produced as much in the body, where everyone starts to feel the effects. Even then though I am sure the aging of skin would be further delayed with less sun exposure, or covering up and using more sun screen in later age. Sick people, at least really sick people tend to stay out of the sun more often then their healthier peers. Not that it is always something they want to do. Other things can affect mitochondria and cause cellular aging, leading to pre mature diseases of aging, however I don't know how much affect it also has on skin appearance,at least to permanent effect.

 

[PennyIA]

I agree, I think looking younger is in the genes... though I'm not completely convinced some risk factors for CFS/ME aren't in our genes as well.

My mother was able to pass herself off as a almost 20 years younger than she was for the majority of her older adult life. Myself? I'll be 49 in a few weeks and am regularly mistaken for being in my 30's... but almost feel insulted lately (even if I know it's meant to be a compliment) - as my sister who is 61 routinely gets told how great it is that she has such a great older sister in me.

As for 'sun' exposure, my mother didn't get chronically ill until her mid-60's and would get so much sun routinely that her grandchildren couldn't make sense as to how grandma could be a black woman (she wasn't - just VERY tanned, although definitely some american indian heritage)... and all her children be white. My eldest two brothers aged at a normal rate, though they have their fair share of health issues... I've not seen them talk about it as if it was 'chronic illness'. My sister has had health issues her whole life (but she also does a great job of engaging in self-destructive behavior - so no idea if she is truly ill or the years of eating junk food and not managing her weight, and smoking and drinking to excess are key components). My youngest brother who is in his late 30's though? He also looks a LOT younger, my older brothers were all graying by then... and lo and behold? He has been diagnosed wtih llyme disease...

Out of the six of us (my mom and her 5 children), four of us have had chronic illness related issues and those same four were the ones that look consistently 10-20 (maybe more) years younger than we are... vs. the two that didn't get sick turning gray and actually looking 'aged' in their mid-30's.

so... definitely not something scientific... and impossible to take this information as anything more than an interesting coincidence....

but I wonder if the risk factors for the chronic nature of illness are linked genetically to the genetic traits that also slow the aging?

I definitely think that if this had a genetic 'cause' that we would have been able to find it by now... and a LOT of people get ill after a virus or traumatic event which can cause stress, there are still others that got ill gradually - a genetic risk factor that can be compounded by stressful body events (like the virus, or a traumatic event, or just a stressful life altogether) might be something that could have something to do with all this. That said, I don't think it's as simple as finding a single genome or snp... I think there are so many layers of details and nuances around genetics that are still unknown to most of us... and I imagine if it is ever found it will be a complex web of linked genes that work on certain processes that when there are too many failures in the system - is when the system gets over whelmed and cannot function any longer. Methylation might be a part of it, but it could be a tiny piece of the puzzle... I do wish that research could catch up with some of these things and find some helpful answers... but there is so much we may never learn in our lifetimes.

 

[Battery Muncher]

I think less sun exposure definitely plays a role for severely affected and bedbound PWME. This is also true if you are from a sunny country.

Neither of these apply to me, though, yet I still get mistaken for someone 10-20 years younger.

I wonder if it has something to do with hormone production/ disrupted Hypo-Pituitary Axis, especially HGH and Testosterone production. Particularly if you got ill when young.

I read a good thread on this topic on this forum. But I can't seem to find it. Oh well.

EDIT: Found it! Only took me half an hour http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/do-you-look-markedly-younger-than-your-age.1635/