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In some people, aging begins at age 45
Researchers followed the natives of 1972-1973 for four decades, and found that some began to age as early as age 45. This was evident in their wrinkles, but also in their sharpness of thought and general health and increased their risk of future problems.
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Monday, 22 March 2021, 08:33 Updated: 08:58
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For some of us, aging begins much earlier than it seems.
Young surfer and older surfer holding a surfboard (Photo: ShutterStock)
Familiar with the saying that age is a matter of feeling?
While this may be true in some cases, new research shows that different people may age at very different rates from each other.
And for some people, aging can begin as early as age 45.
The new study, which is a follow-up study that has accompanied about 1,000 people for more than four decades, was recently published in the journal Nature Aging.
And it proves that people age at very different speeds from each other.
The researchers found that there are people who show clear biological signs of aging as early as age 45, and are also at increased risk for dementia and other aging diseases.
In contrast, other people of the exact same age, seem to be on a completely different trajectory.
At least when it comes to their aging rate.
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To the full article
The data on which the researchers relied were collected as part of a follow-up study known as the Dunedin cohort.
This is a study that has been conducted for many years and has collected data from 1,037 people born between 1972-1973 in New Zealand.
Data on participants' health began to be collected when they were 3 years old and were consistently reported until they reached the age of 45.
The slower aging looked younger, had fewer wrinkles, and their cognitive function maintained its sharpness.
Woman examining wrinkle (Photo: ShutterStock)
The researchers examined certain biological markers that are identified with a large number of bodily systems and vital organs, and thus were able to identify significant indications associated with aging - which is a long and slow process, but one that sometimes begins long before we think.
"Aging is not something that happens suddenly when people reach the age of 60, it is a process that takes a lifetime," Maxwell Elliott, of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University and who led this study, said in a statement.
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The researchers found that some of the 45-year-olds in the study aged at a slower rate relative to the average for their chronological age.
The same people also looked younger: they had fewer wrinkles on their faces, they remained sharp-minded and maintained stable cardiovascular health.
Faster aging is associated with an increased risk of dementia and other aging diseases.
Elderly woman looks out of the window (Photo: ShutterStock)
In contrast, some of the other 45-year-olds have actually begun to show signs of accelerating aging as they age.
When the researchers examined these participants' biological markers, they identified the onset of signs of cognitive decline, they also looked older in appearance, their cardiovascular health was less good and their sensorimotor functions were also less good.
They also defined their health status as less good in themselves, when asked to define it by the researchers.
The researchers believe that those people who at age 45 showed more biological signs of aging are actually at higher risk of developing old age diseases like dementia and other diseases later in life, relative to their peers whose biological condition was better and 'younger'.
Aging fast, aging slowly
In their paper, the researchers refer to "aging fast" and "aging slowly", and it is difficult to know at this stage how these groups are distributed in the general population, outside the sample group.
Nor is it clear what factors may affect people's aging rate and the researchers themselves admit that the disadvantage of this study is that it focuses on only one group of New Zealanders and therefore does not necessarily reflect a true picture of the rest of the world.
If there are indeed people among us who are simply doomed to start aging at an early age, then this is pretty dismal news.
But the researchers hope that this study will eventually lead to more studies that will help people conduct themselves healthier in the second half of their lives.
"We now have a way of measuring what people's aging rate is. Our research highlights how important it is to test the biological markers of mid-life aging, when preventative intervention can still be beneficial and before cumulative damage is done to the various organs," Elliott explained.
"These findings illustrate the significant variability that can exist between biological markers of mid-life aging, and show that they can be quantified and measured. It actually gives us a window of opportunity where the impact of aging can perhaps be softened in the future," he added.
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