According to a new study regarding the molecular changes that are connected to human aging, we as a species experience two drastic jumps in our aging process at specific points in our life. One of these jumps occurs around 44 and the other at around 60-years-old.
The research was published last year in Nature Aging.
Embed from Getty Images
“We’re not just changing gradually over time; there are some really dramatic changes,” said geneticist Michael Snyder of Stanford University.
“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.”
Snyder and his colleagues involved in the study wanted to investigate the biology of aging, while also focusing on the growing risks of diseases that come from getting older. The team wanted to gain a greater understanding of what specific changes are happening in the body that cause diseases to develop so they could better treat the illnesses as well.
For the study, they tracked a group of 108 adults who were donating biological samples every few months over the course of several years, according to Science Alert.
For certain illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease, the risk doesn’t gradually increase over time, but instead escalates sharply after a certain age.
From this conclusion the team knew they wanted to look at more specific biomarkers of aging to see if they could identify a pattern.
The researchers tracked different kinds of biomolecules from the samples they obtained, specifically looking at RNA, proteins, lipids, and gut, skin, nasal, and oral microbiome taxa. In total they observed 135,239 biological features.
Embed from Getty Images
Science Alert reported that every participant in the study submitted an average of 47 samples over the course of 626 days. There were more than 242 billion data points found throughout the study that the researchers processed.
The biggest thing that Snyder and his team noticed was there was a very distinct change in a large number of the molecules in the human body at two distinct stages of life. About 81% of all the molecules studied showed major changes in the mid-40s and again in the early 60s.
During the mid-40s, there was an abundance of molecule changes specifically relating to the metabolism of lipids, caffeine, and alcohol, as well as cardiovascular disease, and dysfunction within the skin and muscles.
In the early 60s peak, the main changes were observed with carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, cardiovascular disease, skin and muscle, as well as immune regulation and kidney functions.
For women specifically, the mid-40s peak was initially thought to be related to the fact that its around the earlier ages in which they start enduring menopause or perimenopause, however, men experienced the same level of molecular changes at the same age, just in different ways.
“This suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes observed in women in their mid-40s, there are likely other, more significant factors influencing these changes in both men and women,” said metabolomicist and author Xiaotao Shen.
“Identifying and studying these factors should be a priority for future research.”
This study will become a great base for future research that can help scientists and health experts understand the phenomenon of aging and how our body changes from decade-to-decade.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
