Aging Isn't Linear, Researchers Discover: 'Dramatic Change' in Mid-40s, Early 60s

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.'

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