Want to age like fine wine? Don’t turn up the heat!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Rising temperatures don’t just melt glaciers. They stress our bodies, specifically gut and immune systems. Heat also warms the ocean waters, which fuels growth of deadly waterborne bacteria.
Why’s that bad? As we age, our bodies handle heat less effectively, leaving us more vulnerable to infections.
Subhajit Roy and team at UC Irvine tested the combined effects of heat and aging on mice infected with waterborne bacteria.
Compared to young mice, older mice had more intestinal barrier damage and immune dysfunction.
Just like fine wine, you’ll want to stay cool – it could be the key to staying healthy!
Reference: Roy, S., More, M., Trivedi, A., Saha, P., Bose, D., Das, S., Mahmud, Z. H., Hanifi, S. M. M. A., & Chatterjee, S. (2025). Aging and climate change-induced heat stress synergistically increase susceptibility to Vibrio vulnificus infection via an altered gut microbiome-immune axis. The Science of the total environment, 989, 179881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179881