10 ms·

Evidence of Delayed Aging Among a National Sample of Americans

56 points by meri_dian 9y ago

meri_dian 9y ago
>"Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988-19994) and NHANES IV (2007-2010), the researchers examined how biological age, relative to chronological age, changed in the U.S. while considering the contributions of health behaviors. Biological age was calculated using several indicators for metabolism, inflammation, and organ function, including levels of hemoglobin, total cholesterol, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, and C-reactive protein in blood as well as blood pressure and breath capacity data." >"While all age groups experienced some decrease in biological age, the results suggest that not all people may be faring the same. Older adults experienced the greatest decreases in biological age, and men experienced greater declines in biological age than females; these differences were partially explained by changes in smoking, obesity, and medication use, Crimmins and Levine explained."
- sp332 9y ago
  Does that mean more medication use, or less?
- sdenton4 9y ago
  Declines in smoking jumped to mind as a potential causal factor...
  - classichasclass 9y ago
    I think it's a big one, too. Seriously: smokers age hard and the more you smoke, the faster it happens. It's a crapload of oxidative stress combined with sometimes serious end-organ vascular consequences (to say nothing of the carcinogenic effects). That said, I imagine it's also a marker for other types of behaviours likely to age people quicker.
jdlyga 9y ago
This is good, since it keeps up with our delaying of life milestones in many parts of the country. I'm 34, and about half of my friends are single and most don't have kids.
- betaby 9y ago
  Since you are on HN, you and your friends most likely men. https://www.webmd.com/men/news/20060601/how-many-men-become-fathers https://www.webmd.com/men/news/20060601/how-many-men-become-... Also, does living longer mean longer fertility window for women?
- gumby 9y ago
  Your comment presumes those to be quasi-obligatory "milestones". Perhaps more and more people are choosing not to marry and choosing not to have kids at all. Both are consistent with rising overall prosperity.
  - Spooky23 9y ago
    I’d argue that it is consistent with the decadence and infantalization of certain parts of society.
    - wetpaws 9y ago
      World fertility rates are on decline for decades regardless of the economy situation or societal structure.
    - gumby 9y ago
      You believe that it is decadent not to marry and/or not to have children??
reasonattlm 9y ago
Biological age, as opposed to chronological age, is driven by the intrinsic processes of primary aging, the accumulation of molecular damage outlined in the SENS rejuvenation research proposals, but also by the influence of the environment, secondary aging. The important contributions to secondary aging are excess visceral fat tissue as a consequence of diet, burden of infectious disease, lack of exercise, and smoking, acting through a range of mechanisms that overlap with the intrinsic processes of primary aging. There are others, but their effects are smaller and it is harder to see them in the data in comparison to the points above. In the paper here, researchers make an effort to map recent changes in secondary aging, picking combinations of metrics from past data that might offer insight into the biological age of patients. I would say that there is little reason to expect primary aging to have altered significantly in the past few decades, given the landscape of medical technology, but it is certainly up for debate as to whether medications that control blood pressure and cholesterol levels might have some effect. They have certainly become more prevalent and effective over the time covered by the study data. Overall this is an interesting exercise, but of little relevance to the future of aging. Gains from here on out will increasingly arise from the development of rejuvenation therapies that can repair the damage of primary aging, rather than from lifestyle improvements such as reduction in smoking or obesity, or forms of therapy that selectively, partially override downstream consequences of aging (e.g. blood pressure) without actually changing the primary aging damage that causes those problems. Greater potential gains in health and life span might be achieved through addressing primary aging; the scope of increased longevity through better lifestyle choices is far more limited. Our remaining healthy life span will thus be determined ever more by progress in rejuvenation biotechnology as time passes.
- jcadam 9y ago
  All I can do at the present time is focus on the things I can control, such as not treating my body like a dumpster and exercising regularly. Real rejuvenative treatments for aging seem to be like nuclear fusion - promising but always 20 years away.
  - adrianN 9y ago
    The research is also funded similarly, way below the level needed to make quick progress.
nickpinkston 9y ago
It must be all the preservatives :)

56 points by meri_dian 9y ago

>"Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988-19994) and NHANES IV (2007-2010), the researchers examined how biological age, relative to chronological age, changed in the U.S. while considering the contributions of health behaviors. Biological age was calculated using several indicators for metabolism, inflammation, and organ function, including levels of hemoglobin, total cholesterol, creatinine, alkaline phosphatase, albumin, and C-reactive protein in blood as well as blood pressure and breath capacity data." >"While all age groups experienced some decrease in biological age, the results suggest that not all people may be faring the same. Older adults experienced the greatest decreases in biological age, and men experienced greater declines in biological age than females; these differences were partially explained by changes in smoking, obesity, and medication use, Crimmins and Levine explained."

sp332 9y ago
Does that mean more medication use, or less?
sdenton4 9y ago
Declines in smoking jumped to mind as a potential causal factor...
- classichasclass 9y ago
  I think it's a big one, too. Seriously: smokers age hard and the more you smoke, the faster it happens. It's a crapload of oxidative stress combined with sometimes serious end-organ vascular consequences (to say nothing of the carcinogenic effects). That said, I imagine it's also a marker for other types of behaviours likely to age people quicker.

jdlyga 9y ago

This is good, since it keeps up with our delaying of life milestones in many parts of the country. I'm 34, and about half of my friends are single and most don't have kids.

betaby 9y ago
Since you are on HN, you and your friends most likely men. https://www.webmd.com/men/news/20060601/how-many-men-become-fathers https://www.webmd.com/men/news/20060601/how-many-men-become-... Also, does living longer mean longer fertility window for women?
gumby 9y ago
Your comment presumes those to be quasi-obligatory "milestones". Perhaps more and more people are choosing not to marry and choosing not to have kids at all. Both are consistent with rising overall prosperity.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  I’d argue that it is consistent with the decadence and infantalization of certain parts of society.
  - wetpaws 9y ago
    World fertility rates are on decline for decades regardless of the economy situation or societal structure.
  - gumby 9y ago
    You believe that it is decadent not to marry and/or not to have children??

reasonattlm 9y ago

Biological age, as opposed to chronological age, is driven by the intrinsic processes of primary aging, the accumulation of molecular damage outlined in the SENS rejuvenation research proposals, but also by the influence of the environment, secondary aging. The important contributions to secondary aging are excess visceral fat tissue as a consequence of diet, burden of infectious disease, lack of exercise, and smoking, acting through a range of mechanisms that overlap with the intrinsic processes of primary aging. There are others, but their effects are smaller and it is harder to see them in the data in comparison to the points above. In the paper here, researchers make an effort to map recent changes in secondary aging, picking combinations of metrics from past data that might offer insight into the biological age of patients. I would say that there is little reason to expect primary aging to have altered significantly in the past few decades, given the landscape of medical technology, but it is certainly up for debate as to whether medications that control blood pressure and cholesterol levels might have some effect. They have certainly become more prevalent and effective over the time covered by the study data. Overall this is an interesting exercise, but of little relevance to the future of aging. Gains from here on out will increasingly arise from the development of rejuvenation therapies that can repair the damage of primary aging, rather than from lifestyle improvements such as reduction in smoking or obesity, or forms of therapy that selectively, partially override downstream consequences of aging (e.g. blood pressure) without actually changing the primary aging damage that causes those problems. Greater potential gains in health and life span might be achieved through addressing primary aging; the scope of increased longevity through better lifestyle choices is far more limited. Our remaining healthy life span will thus be determined ever more by progress in rejuvenation biotechnology as time passes.

jcadam 9y ago
All I can do at the present time is focus on the things I can control, such as not treating my body like a dumpster and exercising regularly. Real rejuvenative treatments for aging seem to be like nuclear fusion - promising but always 20 years away.
- adrianN 9y ago
  The research is also funded similarly, way below the level needed to make quick progress.

nickpinkston 9y ago

It must be all the preservatives :)