Are you older than you look?

By using biomarkers, scientists have measured the aging process in young adults.

Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem used a subset of biomarkers which allowed them to quantify both biological age and people’s aging pace. They discovered that age decline can occur in young adults between the age of 26 and 38.

“This research shows that age-related decline is already happening in young adults who are decades away from developing age-related diseases, and that we can measure it,” said Dr Salomon Israel at Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Department of Psychology.

In the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team used data from a series of biomarkers related to the function of kidneys, liver, lungs, metabolic and immune systems in volunteers over the course of 12 years. In total, they looked at 18 biomarkers, measured when the participants were aged 26, and again when they were 32 and 38. These biomarkers allowed the team to determine whether participants are aging faster or slower than their peers; and quantify their biological age and aging pace.

The results showed that a person’s biological age may differ by many years from their actual chronological age. The results suggest the biological age of 38-year-old participants ranged from under 30 years old, to nearly 60 years old. That means that some participants’ biological age was more than 20 years older than their birth certificates indicated.

Most participants were found to cluster around an aging rate of one year per year, but others were found to be aging as fast as three years per chronological year. Many were aging at zero years per year – staying younger than their chronological age.

“Most studies of aging look at seniors, but if we want to be able to prevent age-related disease, we’re going to have to start studying aging in young people. That gives us some hope that medicine might be able to slow aging and give people more healthy active years,” said research associate Professor Terrie Moffitt.

The scientists hope that their discovery will help researchers to intervene the aging process.

Dr Israel said: “Accelerated aging in young adults predicts the symptoms of advanced aging that we see in older adults: deficits in cognitive and physical functioning, feelings of ill-health, and even an older appearance. The ability to measure how quickly a young person is aging may in the future enable us to engage in interventions that slow aging or target specific diseases.”