## What Are Gamma Rays?
Gamma rays are a type of high-energy radiation that comes from the universe, radioactive materials, and even some man-made sources like nuclear reactors and medical equipment. They are invisible, have no mass or charge, and can travel through most materials—including the human body—with ease. Because they carry so much energy, gamma rays can interact with the atoms inside our cells in ways that other types of radiation cannot.
## How Do Gamma Rays Affect the Body?
When gamma rays pass through your body, they can knock electrons out of atoms in your cells. This process is called ionization. The main targets are molecules like DNA—the instructions for how your cells work and reproduce. When DNA gets damaged by gamma rays, it can lead to changes in how your cells function.
Sometimes these changes cause immediate problems: if enough cells are damaged at once, you might experience symptoms like nausea, vomiting, skin burns (if exposed externally), or even life-threatening conditions known as acute radiation sickness. But what about long-term effects? Can repeated or lower-level exposure to gamma rays make you age faster than normal?
## The Science Behind Aging
Aging is a complex process influenced by genetics, environment, lifestyle choices (like diet and exercise), and damage to our cells over time. One theory of aging suggests that accumulated damage to DNA plays a big role in why we get older: as more mistakes build up in our genetic code over decades
