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 How's this for a scary prognosis?  Family violence leaves genetic traces. Newswise.com reports that a new Tulane University School of Medicine study finds that the more fractured families are by domestic violence or trauma, the more likely that children will bear the scars down to their DNA. Researchers discovered that children in homes affected by domestic violence, suicide or the incarceration of a family member have significantly shorter telomeres, which is a cellular marker of aging, than those in stable households.  Those with shorter telomeres die younger. Telomeres are the caps at the end of chromosomes that keep them from shrinking when cells replicate. Shorter telomeres are linked to higher risks for heart disease, obesity, cognitive decline, diabetes, mental illness and poor health outcomes in adulthood. “Family-level stressors, such as witnessing a family member get hurt, created an environment that affected the DNA within the cells of t...

So maybe you're not fat enough to need bariatric surgery . But it gives those who choose it an unfair advantage over the rest of us.  It just may turn back the clock. According to newswise.com, "Stanford University researchers say surgical weight loss may turn back the effects of aging at a genetic level." Scientists measured the length of patients' telomeres.  Telomeres, or chromosome caps, are genetic biomarkers that play an important role in cellular aging and in the development of disease. "As people age or have chronic disease, their telomeres become shorter," the Web site reports.  But bariatric surgery somehow lengthens them. While patients who underwent this surgery saw their bad cholesterol and high levels of inflammation decrease, they also saw their telomeres grow longer. The length of telomeres is significant, because every time they divide, they get shorter. And the shorter they are, the shorter your life may be.  But that doesn’t mean ...