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Aging is not linear. It would seem logical that you age gradually over time, but that is not what studies show. For women who go through menopause, they can tell you of the abrupt changes seen in perimenopause and then menopause. It is like walking off a cliff, where one week everything is lifted and good, and the next week everything has changed.
A study came out in Nature Aging, 2024, “Nonlinear dynamics of multi-omics profiles during human aging.” Hard to read title, but what it is stating is that aging is NOT linear. What they found was that there are two major periods of aging- one at age 44, and the other at age 60.
This is not new news. They can see that heart disease and stroke prevalence is 40% from age 40-59 and then goes to 75% between ages 60-79, and jumps again to 86% in those over age 80. You see this for neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimer’s as well.
Past studies have shown RNA protein expression related to aging and DNA methylation changes in non linear fashion. This study looked at 108 patients, aged 25-75 of diverse backgrounds. They followed them for over 2 years, some up to 6 years. They were tested every 3-6 months. They collected multiple types of “omics data”- transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, cytokines, lab tests, lipidomics, stool microbiome, skin microbiome, oral microbiome, and nasal microbiome. (They collected blood, stool, skin swab, oral swab, and nasal swabs,) They adjusted for confounding factors- BMI, sex, insulin resistance, ethnicity.
Findings:
- In general, the omics changed with age, with the metabolomics, cytokine, and oral microbiome showing the strongest change with age.
- Understanding the perimenopause for women is around 45 and menopause is around 52, they looked into the menopausal status of the women by doing a separate cluster analysis for women vs men. They found the cluster datasets were equal (do men have manopause?) They state, “the transition point at 55 is not solely attributed to female menopause but, rather, represents a common phenomenon in the aging process of both sexes.”
- They found “distinct molecules and functional pathways- like immune regulation and carbohydrate metabolism- that shifted at the 60 year transition.”
- Particularly at the 40 year transition, there were increased issues with cardiovascular disease, lipid and alcohol metabolism.
- Aging is complex and multifactorial.
- The alterations of molecules like transcripts, proteins, metabolites, and cytokines are important to understanding the mechanism of aging (and figure out therapeutic targets)
- They used “high throughput omics technologies” to study the molecular changes.
Our thoughts?
Biohackr Health is focused on aging better. These cliffs of aging are not new news to us. So when you are in your 40s and 60s in particular, it is a reason to do a reevaluation – has your cholesterol changed? Hormones? Blood sugar?
- HORMONE evaluation. labs, pelleting
- CHOLESTEROL evaluation. labs, medication recommendations.
- BLOOD SUGAR evaluation. labs, CGM (continuous glucose monitor)
- HEART DISEASE. cholesterol labs, cardiac calcium scan
- WEIGHT.
- NAD evaluation and treatments with IV or oral medication
- MICROBIOME support with our probiotic
The in depth article is HERE.
