A new scientific study revealed that our biological age, a different measure than chronological age, may be reversible
By iProfessional
24/04/2023 – 09,16hs
A group of scientists proved that after events of physical stress -such as surgery, pregnancy or serious infection- markers of biological aging they were rising, but after adequate recovery they return to baseline levels.
The growing understanding of natural malleability of DNA, which determines how chemical tags work and thus changes the way in which genes are expressed, allows us to delve into the subject of aging. These types of changes are called epigenetic and are capable of reflecting the influence of lifestyle, the environment, infections and stress on the human organism, both in childhood and later in life.
In such a way, the epigenetic changes they mark the passage of time and can be used as a molecular clock to estimate the biological age of tissues and organs compared to the person’s chronological age.
However, they are not the only markers of age, since it is also used telomere length, or the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that shorten with each cell division. Increasing the longevity of animals through telomere lengthening has been the subject of extensive research in the past.
Aging: advances in science
With this, scientists already had surprises in this area in the past. Thus, previous research has shown that during pregnancy maternal cells appear younger than their chronological age suggests they should be. In another case, scientists came up with a three drug combination that seemed to reduce a person’s biological age.
The new study published in Cell Metabolism used various epigenetic clocks to measure how biological age is changed under stress in animal models and human data sets. Scientists have agreed that stress-induced bouts of aging may only be temporary phenomena.
A new study revealed that our biological age, a different measure than chronological age, may be reversible
It is explained that the patient blood samples who have been traumatized and subsequently underwent surgery showed spikes in biological age markers recovered one week postoperatively.
This pattern also figures in a study conducted by the researchers, when in the course of their experiment the mice had been surgically attached and then separated. At the same time, the patients who opted for elective surgery showed no signs of accelerated aging.
Los researchers they claim that their essay has once again shown that the body is capable of reversing aging, but that this knowledge has not yet led to the mass rejuvenation of society.
