UCL’s research reveals how accelerated aging in certain organs can predict future health problems across the body
People whose hearts are biologically older than their actual age face a 50% higher risk of heart failure over the next 20 years. Patients with early aging lungs are very likely to develop lung cancer. And surprisingly, the strongest predictor of future dementia is not the aging brain, but the aging immune system.
These revelations come from a groundbreaking 20-year study published in Lancet Digital Health, which tracks over 6,200 middle-aged British adults, and how organs age at different rates, and It provides new insights into how these fluctuations can predict future disease risks. The study, led by scientists at the University of London, could fundamentally change the way we approach preventive medicine.
“Our organs act as integrated systems, but they can age at different rates,” explains Professor Mika Kivimaki, lead author of the UCL department of brain science. “It is important to cherish all aspects of health, as aging of certain organs can contribute to diseases related to many ages.”
A window into your biological future
In the late 1990s, researchers collected blood samples from participants in the Whitehall II Study in the UK, a long-term health research project that began in 1985. Advanced proteomic analysis was used to measure thousands of proteins in a single blood sample. Biological ages of nine organs: heart, blood vessels, liver, immune system, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, intestines, and brain.
For each person, they calculated the gap between age (the actual year of life) and biological age (each organ that appeared based on a particular aging marker). These “organ age gaps” vary considerably from person to person, and we confirmed that our organs were not giving all the synchronization.
The researchers then tracked participants’ health over two decades through the national health registry. By the end of the study, accelerated organ aging predicted 30 different diseases and predicted problems long before symptoms.
Beyond organ-specific diseases
While some findings were consistent with intuitive expectations, the aging heart predicted respiratory conditions that predict cardiovascular disease and aging lungs, the subsequent connections were in a surprising way. crossed the boundary.
This study found that kidney health is particularly interconnected with other organs. People with accelerated renal aging were more likely to develop vascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease. Conversely, biological aging of almost all organs predicted an increased risk of kidney disease.
One of the most unexpected findings of the study was that it accelerated the immune system, not brain aging, and occurred as the most powerful predictor of future dementia. This supports the growing evidence that inflammatory processes may play an important role in neurodegenerative diseases.
“The findings suggest that faster aging of the immune system than the brain may better predict future risks of dementia,” the researchers noted. This is consistent with previous studies linking severe infections to dementia risk in later years.
From one illness to many illnesses
The study also found that people with rapidly aging organs are more likely to develop multiple age-related diseases in different organ systems, a condition known as multiple.
Researchers say this pattern is biologically meaningful. Because our organs function as an integrated system, accelerated aging of one organ can impair the function of other organs and create a cascade effect throughout the body.
For example, having an arterial age gap had one standard deviation higher than average, increasing the risk of developing two or more diseases in different organs by 103%. Similarly, an increase in the age gap in the kidneys increased the risk of multi-intestinal disease by 78% and accelerated cardiac aging, resulting in a 52% increase in risk.
A new era of preventive medicine
The impact on healthcare can be profound. Instead of waiting for symptoms of the disease to appear, doctors may one day use blood tests to identify which organs are aging rapidly and intervene before problems arise.
“We believe that the future of healthcare and prevention of age-related diseases may begin much earlier. Prioritizing the most profitable people and adjusting interventions to individual risk profiles You can do it,” says Professor Kibimaki.
And these insights can come from simple blood tests. Recent technological advances allow thousands of proteins to be measured simultaneously from a single sample, creating a comprehensive window into how different organs are aging.
“We hope that our findings can contribute to new ways to help people stay healthy as they age,” says Professor Kibimaki.
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