Gaby
A team at Stanford University found that aging isn’t a slow, steady process. That helps explain sudden spikes in health problems that show up at certain points in life.
If you’ve suddenly noticed extra wrinkles or felt like you aged overnight, there’s a scientific explanation. Researchers found that aging accelerates sharply at two distinct stages of life, as reported by The Guardian.
What Did the Scientists Discover?
The university team analyzed health data from 108 volunteers aged 25 to 75. Every few months, over a period ranging from one to nearly seven years, participants provided blood and stool samples, as well as swabs from their skin, mouth, and nose. During the study, scientists evaluated 135,000 different molecules (RNA, proteins, and metabolites) and microbes (bacteria, viruses, and fungi living in the participants’ guts and on their skin).
Most molecules and microbes didn’t change gradually with age. When researchers looked for clusters of molecules with the biggest shifts, they found those transformations occurred at specific stages of life.
Overall, the analysis indicated two major waves of age-related change around ages 44 and 60. These findings may explain why certain conditions, especially musculoskeletal and cardiovascular diseases, tend to spike at particular ages.
“We don’t just change gradually over time. There are some truly radical changes. It turns out that the mid-40s and early 60s are times of significant transformation, regardless of which class of molecules we are examining,” said Professor Michael Snyder, the senior author of the study, a geneticist and director of the Stanford Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine.
What Changes Are We Talking About?
The surge in aging during the mid-40s surprised the researchers. They initially expected age-related shifts to be driven by perimenopausal changes in women. But the data showed those shifts also affect men of the same age.
“This suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes observed in women around 45, there are likely other, more significant factors affecting both men and women,” explained Dr. Xiaotao Shen, the lead author of the study from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
The first wave involved molecules linked to cardiovascular disease and to the metabolism of caffeine, alcohol, and lipids. The second wave affected molecules involved in immune regulation, carbohydrate metabolism, and kidney function. Molecules related to skin and muscle aging changed during both phases of accelerated aging.
These observations line up with previous research suggesting some changes may be tied to lifestyle or behavior. For instance, altered alcohol metabolism could result from increased drinking during the stressful mid-40s.
The authors say the study could help develop anti-aging interventions, such as increasing physical activity during periods of rapid muscle loss. “I am convinced that we need to adjust our lifestyle while we are still healthy,” said Professor Snyder.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Aging.
