Scientists from Karolinska Institute (KI) found that people whose biological age is older than their actual age have a significantly higher risk of stroke and dementia, especially vascular dementia. The study was published on: Journal of Neurology, Brain Surgery and Psychiatry.
As you get older, your risk of chronic diseases increases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. Scientists traditionally rely on chronological age (the number of years a person has lived) as an approximate measure of biological age. But Sarah Hagg, author of the new paper, said chronological age is a fairly imprecise measurement because people age at different rates.
In the new study, scientists used data from the British Biobank on 325,000 patients who were aged between 40 and 70 at the time of their initial examination. Biological age was calculated using 18 biomarkers, including blood lipids, sugar, blood pressure, lung function and BMI.
They found that if a person’s biological age is five years older than their actual age, their risk of developing vascular dementia or stroke is 40% higher. Biological age can be affected by changing lifestyle and taking medications if necessary. Since this is an observational study, cause-effect relationships cannot be established. But the results may mean that it may be possible to delay the onset of many diseases by improving biomarkers of aging.
A four-year-old girl before survived paralysis due to high levels of a specific amino acid.