All posts tagged: Biological Age

Blood-based aging clock predicts dementia risk years before symptoms

Blood-based aging clock predicts dementia risk years before symptoms

Published by Jenni Sidey

A person’s body can age faster than the calendar suggests, and that gap may carry important clues about dementia risk. In a study of more than 220,000 UK Biobank participants, researchers at King’s College London found that people whose biological age appeared older than their chronological age were more likely to develop dementia over time. They were also more likely to develop it sooner. The pattern was especially strong for vascular dementia, a form linked to reduced blood flow in the brain. The work points to a simple idea with large consequences. Two people may be the same age on paper, but one may show signs of faster internal aging in the blood. That difference, the researchers say, could help identify people who face a greater chance of dementia before symptoms begin. “Our findings suggest that biological ageing data can help identify individuals at risk of dementia before clinical symptoms emerge,” said lead author Dr. Julian Mutz, King’s Prize Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London. “By combining …

AI tool tracks facial aging, and helps doctors gauge cancer risk

AI tool tracks facial aging, and helps doctors gauge cancer risk

Published by Jenni Sidey

A camera used for patient ID does not usually look like a medical test. Yet in a new cancer study, routine facial photos taken months or years apart appeared to capture something deeper: how quickly a person was biologically aging while going through treatment, and how that change tracked with survival. Researchers at Mass General Brigham say this shifting measure, called Face Aging Rate, or FAR, may offer a new way to read a patient’s health over time without a blood draw, scan, or biopsy. Writing in Nature Communications, the team reports that cancer patients whose facial age rose faster than expected were more likely to die sooner than those whose facial aging stayed slower or steadier. The work builds on earlier research behind FaceAge, an artificial intelligence tool that estimates biological age from a single face photo. Last year, the same group reported that cancer patients often appeared about five years older than their actual age, and that older FaceAge estimates tracked with poorer survival after treatment. This time, the question was not how …

Scientists map millions of cells to decode the biology of aging

Scientists map millions of cells to decode the biology of aging

Published by Jenni Sidey

Aging does not arrive all at once. It builds quietly across years, touching cells long before symptoms appear. Scientists have spent decades studying diseases tied to aging. Now, many want to understand aging itself, hoping to slow its effects at the source. A new study offers one of the clearest views yet. Researchers at The Rockefeller University mapped how aging changes cells across the entire body. They examined nearly 7 million individual cells from mice. These cells came from 21 different tissues and three life stages. “Our goal was to understand not just what changes with aging, but why,” said Junyue Cao, who heads the Laboratory of Single Cell Genomics and Population Dynamics. “By mapping both cellular and molecular changes, we can identify what drives aging. That opens the door to interventions that target the aging process itself.” The findings reveal a body in motion. Aging is not a simple decline. It is a coordinated shift across organs, cell types, and biological systems. Some changes begin earlier than expected, and many differ between males and …

Forever chemicals linked to accelerated aging risk in middle-aged men

Forever chemicals linked to accelerated aging risk in middle-aged men

Published by Jenni Sidey

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent in the environment. They are found in drinking water, soil, and animal tissues. They can remain in the body long after exposure. This persistence is one reason PFAS have been used for many years as part of commercial products. For example, they are in non-stick cookware and fire-fighting foam. These products are designed to resist heat, grease, stains, and corrosion. Recent studies indicate that two PFAS chemicals (PFNA and PFOSA) may be associated with increased rates of biological aging among a subset of people. Specifically, this association is found in middle-aged men. Dr. Xiangwei Li, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, led a study that focused on blood sample and DNA methylation data collected during the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1999 and 2000). This study included data from 326 adults aged 50 or older in the U.S. Study Design and Data Sources The researchers found that certain PFAS chemicals can increase the risk of biological aging in middle-aged men. They measured methylation …