Aging Isn't Linear, Researchers Discover: 'Dramatic Change' in Mid-40s, Early 60s (health.com) 26
An anonymous reader shared this report from Health magazine:
"Most people think of aging as occurring gradually, constantly, and linearly," senior study author Michael Snyder, PhD, a professor of genetics and director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University, told Health. But "we're not just changing gradually over time; there are some really dramatic changes," Snyder said in a news release. "It turns out the mid-40s is a time of dramatic change, as is the early 60s. And that's true no matter what class of molecules you look at."
And these molecular changes aren't insignificant to our health — they were seen in molecules related to cardiovascular disease, skin and muscle health, immune regulation, and kidney function, among others... [R]esearchers from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore used data from 108 participants between the ages of 25 and 75. Those participants donated blood and other biological samples (stool samples, oral and nasal swabs) every few months over the course of several years. From those samples, researchers were able to track age-related changes in more than 135,000 different molecules and microbes in the participants' bodies.
The analysis showed that the majority of molecules and microbes underwent major changes in their abundance (increasing or decreasing) during two time periods: when people were in their mid-40s and early 60s... The molecules that showed extreme changes in a person's 40s, for example, were related to alcohol, caffeine, and lipid metabolism, as well as cardiovascular disease and skin and muscle health. Meanwhile, molecular changes in a person's 60s were related to carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, immune regulation, kidney function, cardiovascular disease, and skin and muscle health. According to experts, these changes might show up as a reduced ability to metabolize caffeine and alcohol, suggesting that it may be wise to cut back on those substances. People in their 40s and 60s may also see a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and people in their 60s may benefit from supporting their immune systems.
The article ends with this advice from Dr. Ronald DePinho, a cancer biology professor at the University of Texas's cancer center: there's ways to manage or slow some of the changes associated with aging.
"The easiest way to do that is through lifestyle changes, said DePinho — that means staying active, eating and sleeping well, managing stress, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol."
And these molecular changes aren't insignificant to our health — they were seen in molecules related to cardiovascular disease, skin and muscle health, immune regulation, and kidney function, among others... [R]esearchers from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore used data from 108 participants between the ages of 25 and 75. Those participants donated blood and other biological samples (stool samples, oral and nasal swabs) every few months over the course of several years. From those samples, researchers were able to track age-related changes in more than 135,000 different molecules and microbes in the participants' bodies.
The analysis showed that the majority of molecules and microbes underwent major changes in their abundance (increasing or decreasing) during two time periods: when people were in their mid-40s and early 60s... The molecules that showed extreme changes in a person's 40s, for example, were related to alcohol, caffeine, and lipid metabolism, as well as cardiovascular disease and skin and muscle health. Meanwhile, molecular changes in a person's 60s were related to carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, immune regulation, kidney function, cardiovascular disease, and skin and muscle health. According to experts, these changes might show up as a reduced ability to metabolize caffeine and alcohol, suggesting that it may be wise to cut back on those substances. People in their 40s and 60s may also see a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and people in their 60s may benefit from supporting their immune systems.
The article ends with this advice from Dr. Ronald DePinho, a cancer biology professor at the University of Texas's cancer center: there's ways to manage or slow some of the changes associated with aging.
"The easiest way to do that is through lifestyle changes, said DePinho — that means staying active, eating and sleeping well, managing stress, and avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol."
I'm 58 - here I gooooooo! (Score:2)
Reaching for the barbells. Probiotic kitchen swimming in kefir and kimchi. Hope I'm doing this right...
Life is unfair (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Abundance and comfort only makes stupid people miserable.
The smart ones recognize that it is natural for our minds to be discontented (contentment does not motivate, whereas discontent does). We naturally crave drama and will create it if necessary, even when we don't like it. We can get addicted to anything. And we absolutely take even the most amazing of pleasures for granted once we have easy access to it.
Knowing this kind of thing lends itself to overcoming the problems. We can practice counting-of-
Aging is a process (Score:1)
You'd think there would be some interest in understanding it and reversing it. I doubt we'll ever see dramatic life extension into centuries but a few more decades of youth would be nice.
Re: (Score:3)
I think far too much energy has been spent on trying to reversing it (and failing), when we should be spending energy on understanding the aging process and developing ways and means to better deal with it and provide for our aging population in dignity and respect. Instead we delude ourselves into ever chasing youth instead of enjoying maturity and the wisdom that comes from a life lived. It's certainly interesting to watch younger generations as they grow up, mature, and start doing great things, knowin
Aging is a disease (Score:2)
You'd think there would be some interest in understanding it
There is. Significant advances have been made in understanding the processes behind aging and the research so far seems to show that aging is a disease and things like heart disease and dementia are symptoms of that disease as opposed to diseases in and of themselves.
Research now is showing that enzymes called sirtuins play *THE* role in both repairing DNA errors OR healthy cell reproduction. When I say THE I mean a singular cause and when I say OR it's because sirtuins cannot do both at the same time.
Sounds familiar (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm in my 60s, but my memory is still good enough to recall Scientists Find Humans Age Dramatically In Two Bursts: At 44, Then 60 [slashdot.org] from August this year.
Does anyone know who made the first post [slashdot.org] back then? Apparently it was something +5 Insightful, but this person and their comment have now been consigned to the memory hole.
Re: (Score:1)
Looks like the Internet Archive nabbed it. [archive.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks! It's weird that that user [archive.org] has disappeared.
it would seem memory also wanes in bursts ... (Score:2)
https://science.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
The age that really finished off my youth for good (Score:2)
was just before 50 - maybe 48 or something. That's when I went from leading a normal life to having a doctor stick a finger up my ass to check why I peed more than usual, and I didn't know he had the right to do that because I couldn't read the release form I had signed without reading glasses.
I don't mind disability as much as I do aging. Decrepitude sucks.
I'm 48 and can affirm it's a real thing (Score:2)
I've been in excellent health all my life. Still in decent health. Never really needed to do anything special, just keeping an active lifestyle including walking and physical labor. But I have felt myself age more in the last year than in the last 10 years. Nothing particular happened and no changes in lifestyle or life circumstances to trigger it. It's been a bit interesting. My old-age vision has gotten significantly worse in the last six months as well. Hopefully the decline has slowed down for a b
Re: (Score:2)
Yes (Score:2)
Didn't much notice a bump in 40's, but 60's was pretty dramatic. Cancer, then latter 60's stamina went. But now 77, feel like a million bucks after buying a full-up, club-level elliptical crosstrainer and pumping the dinghies out of it to lose 47.5 lbs last year and early this one. Late 60's also saw blood thinner requirement as my blood clotted - "dual pulmonary emboli" - barely survived only because I had spent 10 months pumping a health club elliptical trying to control my weight so my heart could p
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not that old but I've already experienced that. It's shocking that it's taken modern medicine so long to confirm it's a real thing.
Being around people your age, the last year, I've seen aging, like growing-up, happens in stages. The big one for men, is physical activity: A wheel-chair is a death-sentence, for many men. Or, maybe, the wheel-chair just indicates the male body can no longer maintain a stable metabolism. For old women, there are two triggers; a mild winter or viral infection where they
I'm in my 60s (Score:2)
I'm trying to be in denial and ignore all this, but my knees keep reminding me. Darn knees. Seriously - if there's one thing that shouts "remember you are in your 60s, dude" at me... it's my knees.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm trying to be in denial and ignore all this, but my knees keep reminding me. Darn knees. Seriously - if there's one thing that shouts "remember you are in your 60s, dude" at me... it's my knees.
Yeah, I just turned 60 recently. Mostly I feel good, except for my knees and shoulders, which are starting to complain about all the years of abuse. I'm sure the hips will get in there with their contribution in due course.
Small Study - Broad Conclsions (Score:2)
[R]esearchers from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore used data from 108 participants between the ages of 25 and 75.
You might want to wait for replication with a larger group of people before using this to inform any conclusions. Unless, of course, it confirms your previous conclusions. In any case, it seems to be drawing conclusions about those 108 individuals from the attributes of the entire (rather small) population.
Re: (Score:2)
>> replication with a larger group
From what I can gather they were looking at the molecules, not the effects of aging on the people. And they supposedly could identify things that can knock you back.
"The molecules that showed extreme changes in a person’s 40s, for example, were related to alcohol, caffeine, and lipid metabolism, as well as cardiovascular disease and skin and muscle health."
Re: (Score:2)
From what I can gather they were looking at the molecules, not the effects of aging on the people.
They were certainly using the people's age. And the report seems to claim that everyone has these aging effects at the same age. That is it universal.
And why would it be. (Score:3)
Aging Isn't Linear, Researchers Discover
Few things are this simple, why would aging be.
59M, my doctor keeps asking me about my joints (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Thing is, the extended warranty on your body ends at 60 - and experience teaches us that things always start to go wrong shortly after the warranty has expired...
Correlation with familial stress? (Score:2)
Mid 40s. Your kids hit their teens. (Assuming you had them at 30)
Early 60s. Your parents at risk of death (assuming they had you at 25)