Interesting finding: Y Chromosome loss in older men related to significant health issues...

[BackInTheGame78]

Super interesting how science seems to always find that things they didn't think matters actually do in the human body the more they study it...

Summary of the article and main talking points below:

Men gradually lose the Y chromosome from some of their cells as they age, and this mosaic loss is now linked to a range of serious age‑related diseases and shorter lifespan, rather than being harmless as once thought.

What happens to the Y chromosome

• Many men lose the Y chromosome in a fraction of their body cells over time, especially in tissues where cells divide rapidly.
• Around 40% of 60‑year‑old men and 57% of 90‑year‑olds show loss of Y in at least some cells, with smoking and carcinogen exposure increasing the risk.
• The loss creates a mosaic pattern: some cells still have a Y, while others are Y‑less, and those Y‑less cells can grow faster and may gain a competitive advantage, including in tumors.

Why scientists once thought it didn’t matter

• The human Y chromosome carries only about 51 protein‑coding genes, far fewer than other chromosomes, and is known mainly for roles in sex determination and sperm production.
• In lab cultures, cells can lose the Y and still survive, and some mammal species have even evolved to dispense with the Y entirely, which led to the idea that late‑life Y loss in body tissues was largely inconsequential.

New links to disease and mortality

• Large human studies now associate Y loss with cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s, several cancers, and overall reduced lifespan
• Men over 60 with a high frequency of Y‑loss cells have an increased risk of heart attacks, and Y loss has been linked to higher death rates from COVID‑19 and to worse outcomes in cancer.
• A mouse experiment where Y‑deficient blood cells were transplanted led to more age‑related pathologies and heart failure, suggesting Y loss can directly drive disease, not just correlate with it.

How losing Y might cause harm

• Beyond protein‑coding genes, the Y chromosome contains many non‑coding genes that produce RNAs which help regulate other genes across the genome.
• Losing Y appears to alter gene expression in blood‑forming cells and genes involved in immune function, which may in turn affect inflammation, blood cell balance, and heart function.
• Genetic studies suggest that about one‑third of the variability in Y‑loss frequency is inherited, involving many genes related to cell cycle control and cancer susceptibility, hinting at broader genome‑stability issues in men prone to Y loss.

What this means going forward

• Because the Y chromosome was only fully sequenced recently, researchers are still identifying which specific Y‑linked genes and regulatory elements drive these health effects.
• The growing evidence shifts the view of the Y from a mostly dispensable chromosome to one with wider roles in maintaining tissue health and resisting age‑related disease in men.

Men lose their Y chromosome as they age. Scientists thought it didn’t matter — but now we’re learning more

Men lose the Y chromosome with age, previously thought insignificant, but now linked to diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's. New research suggests the Y chromosome plays a broader role in gene regulation, impacting health and lifespan.

www.downtoearth.org.in

 

[BeExcellent]

I bet this is going to come to explain one of the reasons women (no Y chromosome) typically outlive men. Fascinating research.

In my family the women are often centurians or very close. The men live into their 80s. This offers an explaination....but lets face it, everyone's genome is getting ragged by the 90s.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I bet this is going to come to explain one of the reasons women (no Y chromosome) typically outlive men. Fascinating research.

In my family the women are often centurians or very close. The men live into their 80s. This offers an explaination....but lets face it, everyone's genome is getting ragged by the 90s.

They have also found a link to iron causing oxidative damage over a lifespan as well, which women have an advantage with because they typically bleed out some of the iron every month for decades of their life while men have no way of getting rid of this without doing things like donating blood or going thru some sort of chelation therapy.

 

[zekko]

They have also found a link to iron causing oxidative damage over a lifespan as well, which women have an advantage with because they typically bleed out some of the iron every month for decades of their life while men have no way of getting rid of this without doing things like donating blood or going thru some sort of chelation therapy.

Maybe those medieval blood letters were on to something.

 

[FlexpertHamilton]

Better be sure to supplement Y chromosome extract then.

 

[Bible_Belt]

with smoking and carcinogen exposure increasing the risk

Carcinogens damage DNA. With smoking cigarettes, it happens because tobacco as a plant pulls a lot lf phosphorus out of the soil, which makes it radioactive. You get tiny bits of radioactivity embedded in your lungs, which is what causes cancer and apparently also chromosome damage.