Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
The loss of the male sex chromosome as many men age causes the heart muscle to scar and can lead to deadly heart failure, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine shows. The finding may help explain why men die, on average, several years younger than women.
UVA researcher Kenneth Walsh, PhD, says the new discovery suggests that men who suffer Y chromosome loss -- estimated to include 40% of 70-year-olds -- may particularly benefit from an existing drug that targets dangerous tissue scarring. The drug, he suspects, may help counteract the harmful effects of the chromosome loss -- effects that may manifest not just in the heart but in other parts of the body as well.
[...] "Particularly past age 60, men die more rapidly than women. It's as if they biologically age more quickly," said Walsh, the director of UVA's Hematovascular Biology Center. "There are more than 160 million males in the United States alone. The years of life lost due to the survival disadvantage of maleness is staggering. This new research provides clues as to why men have shorter lifespans than women."
While women have two X chromosomes, men have an X and a Y. But many men begin to lose their Y chromosome in a fraction of their cells as they age. This appears to be particularly true for smokers. The loss occurs predominantly in cells that undergo rapid turnover, such as blood cells. [...]
[...] The findings suggest that targeting the effects of Y chromosome loss could help men live longer, healthier lives. Walsh notes that one potential treatment option might be a drug, pirfenidone, that has already been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a form of lung scarring. The drug is also being tested for the treatment of heart failure and chronic kidney disease, two conditions for which tissue scarring is a hallmark. Based on his research, Walsh believes that men with Y chromosome loss could respond particularly well to this drug, and other classes of antifibrotic drugs that are being developed, though more research will be needed to determine that.
[...] "The DNA of all our cells inevitably accumulate mutations as we age. This includes the loss of the entire Y chromosome within a subset of cells within men. Understanding that the body is a mosaic of acquired mutations provides clues about age-related diseases and the aging process itself," said Walsh, a member of UVA's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. "Studies that examine Y chromosome loss and other acquired mutations have great promise for the development of personalized medicines that are tailored to these specific mutations."
Journal Reference:
Soichi Sano, Keita Horitani, Hayato Ogawa, et al., Hematopoietic loss of Y chromosome leads to cardiac fibrosis and heart failure mortality, Science, 377, 2022. DOI: 10.1126/science.abn3100
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2022, @07:21AM (2 children)
And all this time, I thought it was the women who were wearing men out.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 19 2022, @01:35PM (1 child)
Technically if we, men, are losing the Y chromosome are we not reverting back to being women? It's the transition to womanhood that is killing us. Life is a bitch and then you die.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday July 19 2022, @03:04PM
Transexual Republican party membership just shot through the fuckin' roof though!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday July 19 2022, @03:02PM
Uh oh, somebody's got some gender defining to do!
Define "male" now geniuses!
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday July 19 2022, @03:07PM
Do they expect us to continue using their preferred pronouns of he/him?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday July 19 2022, @03:09PM
Does that mean we have increased from 99 to 100 genders now?
Since it is finally impacting Republicans directly I forsee a federal definition of this third gender within the week!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday July 19 2022, @04:39PM (1 child)
men are both male and female until the Y chromosome is found?
Does this make me both hetero and lesbian at the same time when having 'relations' with my wife?
Is my penis a clit? (Yes i know it is, basically....)
Does this render the idea of Male Dominance both alive and dead at the same time?
Will getting older turn me into a Frenchman?!?!?! 8-O
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday July 19 2022, @08:46PM
Gender is complicated.
We've been telling you this for like thirty years now but I'm glad it's finally sinking in.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 21 2022, @01:38PM
There was a similar article posted in the past
"Loss of Y Chromosome in Aging Men Correlates With Cancer Risks"
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=19/12/07/184243 [soylentnews.org]
I would also think that mutations on the part of the x chromosome that's not on the y chromosome would be worse for a male than a female because the female has two x chromosomes so a mutation in one can be compensated for by the other in a female (yet not for a male)?