Gaby
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine developed a blood test that can track how quickly individual human organs are aging.
Organs age at different rates. The researchers found that one in five healthy adults over 50 has at least one organ aging faster than expected. That person faces an increased risk of disease in that organ over the next 15 years, said Tony Wyss-Coray, a professor of neurology and the study’s lead author.
The researchers enlisted 5,678 volunteers for a study that used a new blood test measuring protein levels to determine each organ’s aging rate. Each organ has its own unique combination of proteins, and the levels of those proteins help determine how quickly an organ ages and how vulnerable it is to disease.
The team focused on 11 vital organs: the heart, brain, lungs, liver, intestines, pancreas, kidneys, adipose tissue, blood vessels, immune system, and muscles.
Science Focus.
For each organ, the researchers calculated the “age gap” between its chronological and biological age. They also discovered that only one in 60 people has two organs that are aging rapidly. Individuals with an “old” brain were 1.8 times more likely to show signs of cognitive decline within five years than people with a “younger” brain.
To validate the method and test whether specialists can predict organ aging, the team plans to conduct further studies. “If we can replicate our findings in a sample of 50,000 or 100,000 people, it would mean that by monitoring the health of individual organs in healthy people, we could identify organs undergoing accelerated aging,” Wyss-Coray said. “That would allow us to treat people before they become ill,” he added.
The results of the study were published in the journal Nature.
