By Julie E 
Photo Credit (Pixabay)
At your most recent high school reunion, did your lab partner appear ten years younger than you? According to a recent study, she might be taking better care of her body.
The study, which looked at how quickly people age and was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may have paved the way for more potent anti-aging treatments, according to its authors.
According to CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus, “the important thing about this study is that most studies on aging looked at the elderly, and what this said is that in your 20s you need to start to pay attention because you can slow that aging process,” Agus stated on Wednesday’s “CBS This Morning.”
Researchers observed a wide range of ages among the almost 1,000 volunteers who were 38 years of age or older. Despite having the same “chronological age,” the individuals’ “biological age” varied from less than 30 to over 60.
“(The study) looked at a young, healthy population to see what the differences were overtime for them; as opposed to looking at older people who are already elderly — some were sick, some were not — and trying to figure out in retrospect how they had stayed healthy,” Dr. Len Horovitz, an internist at Lenox Hill in “Up to the Minute.”
Their theory? In reality, participants who looked older were aging more quickly than their friends who were chronologically comparable in age.
Researchers compared participants’ benchmark of 18 characteristics, such as organ function, oral health, and cognitive function, with data from six and twelve years ago using data gathered by the Dunedin Study.
“What’s amazing about this study is that they then took pictures of the people who were biologically old versus young, and they showed them to undergraduates at Duke and they predicted the age correctly,” Agus stated. “Biologically, they said these persons were older and these persons were younger.”
Research indicates that resveratrol has anti-aging properties.
How to keep your aging brain healthy
A historical look at why men died earlier than women
Researchers found those who experienced faster rates of “biological aging” scored lower on IQ, strength and balance tests.
The data also showed that individuals’ aging rates varied widely. On one extreme, three patients experienced a pace of aging less than zero — meaning they appeared to grow physically younger — while on the other, other participants saw a physiological change of three years every chronological year, developing biologically older quicker.
“There is a condition known as familial constitutional developmental delay in which members of a family appear younger despite actually aging chronologically and biologically more slowly. According to Horovitz, some of this is inherited.
However, according to Agus, environmental and lifestyle factors have a far greater influence on how people age than genetics, which only contributes around 20%.
“It’s what you do; it’s how you live,” expressed Agus. “Things like not watching your waistline, things like smoking, have a dramatic effect to accelerate aging.”
Agus’ recommendation was supported by a study that involved 186 pairs of identical twins and was published in the medical journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Despite genetic similarities, it was discovered that variables like stress, smoking, and sun exposure affected the participants’ physiological appearance.
Eating a healthy diet, exercising, and getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night are all ways to counteract the effects of aging.
Agus said it’s also important to consider family history and focus on preventative treatments for those specific issues.
“The key to everything is slowing it, and if you start early, you’re going to have a much better outcome,” he stated.
Horovitz said it’s never to late to start.
“You can certainly stop smoking, you can get your vitamin D level to normal, you can go to the gym, you can get proper rest—7-hour sleep—and you can have good nutrition that doesn’t emphasize sugar and fats and looks more at fruits and vegetables and healthier foods,” he said.