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While we all age, the process isn’t as regular as we might think. According to a new study, there are two ages in particular that bring about radical and rapid changes. And it’s happening earlier than expected…
At what age do you really feel the weight of the years? If the question can be subjective and depends on your feelings, it would still have a scientific answer if we believe a recent study published in the journal Nature AgingThere are in fact two ages where aging really accelerates at the level of the organism.
Much faster aging at 44 and 60 years old
The Stanford scientists behind the study followed 108 healthy volunteers, ages 25 to 75 (51.9 percent of whom were women). The volunteers provided blood and stool samples, as well as skin, oral, and nasal swabs every three to six months for a period ranging from one to nearly seven years. The scientists looked at levels of a wide range of indicators, including RNA, proteins, and metabolites, as well as changes in the microbiome. The researchers tracked age-related changes across more than 135,000 different molecules and microbes, for a total of nearly 250 billion separate data points.
And in conclusion, the authors arrive at an observation:
“We’re not just changing gradually over time. There are really dramatic changes at ages 44 and 60, regardless of the class of molecules we’re looking at.” reacted Michael Snyder, geneticist in The Guardian.
Amazing Changes in Midlife
Perhaps it’s not surprising that so many dramatic changes occur in the early 60s, Snyder said, because many risks for age-related diseases and other age-related phenomena are known to increase at this stage of life.
But the team says they were particularly surprised by the magnitude of the changes seen in midlife. While they thought that menopause caused significant changes specifically in women, they found that this shift “also occurred in men in their mid-40s“, the press release states.
“This suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes seen in women in their mid-40s, there are likely other, more important factors influencing these changes in both men and women.”adds Xiaotao Shen, first author of the scientific article.
Two different aging periods
The other information provided by this study is that the two waves of aging observed do not concern the same elements.
- In people aged 40 to 60significant changes were observed in the number of molecules related to alcohol, caffeine and lipid metabolism, cardiovascular diseases, skin and muscles.
- Among the sixty-year-oldschanges included carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, immune regulation, kidney function, cardiovascular disease, skin and muscle.
It’s hard to know whether some of the changes are related to external factors or lifestyle changes or biological factors. As Snyder admits, impaired alcohol metabolism could result from increased drinking in the mid-40s, an often stressful time in life.
So many reasons to take care of your health
The next step for these researchers is to better identify the causes of these changes, but without waiting, the authors emphasize the need to pay attention to one’s health, especially in one’s forties and sixties. This could consist of increasing physical activity to protect one’s heart, maintaining muscle mass at these two ages, or reducing alcohol consumption…
A strong supporter of prevention, Professor Snyder concludes: “I strongly believe that we should try to adapt our lifestyle while we are still healthy.“.
Slideshow: Things that age us