We begin to age in our 40s or 60s. Well-being does not have to plummet.
For the study, Michael Snyder at Stanford University and his colleagues collected a vast amount of biological data from 108 volunteers aged 25 to 75, all of whom were living in California. Their approach was to gather as much information as they could and look for age-related patterns afterward.
This approach can lead to some startling revelations, including the one about the impacts of age on 40-year-olds (who, I was horrified to learn this week, are generally considered “middle-aged”). This can answer big questions about ageing and help us discover drugs that counteract some of the worst aspects of aging. Midlife doesn’t have to be a time of deterioration in your health. We’ll explore why.
First of all, let’s look at the study that was published on 14 August in Nature Aging. Snyder and his team collected data from their volunteers on gene expression and proteins, metabolites and other chemical markers. The team also collected samples from volunteers’ mouths, noses, skins, and stool to determine the microbes that may be present. Snyder says that the goal is to have a complete picture of a person’s health. There are two that seem to be particularly important: one around the age of 44, and another around the age of 60. There seem to be two that are particularly important: one at around the age of 44, and another around the age of 60.
Some of the dramatic changes at age 60 seem to be linked to kidney and heart function, and diseases like atherosclerosis, which narrows the arteries.
That makes sense, given that our risks of developing cardiovascular diseases increase dramatically as we age–around 40% of 40- to 59-year-olds have such disorders, and this figure rises to 75% for 60- to 79-year-olds.
