This document discusses biomarkers of aging and the challenges involved in identifying accurate biomarkers. While aging affects many systems in the body, the aging process happens at different rates for different people. Scientists have looked at various cellular, hormonal, genetic and behavioral changes as potential predictors of aging rates, but none have proven to be true measures. An ideal biomarker of aging would need to accurately predict health declines related to age, be safely tested repeatedly in both humans and animals, and be simple and inexpensive. However, separating aging effects from disease impacts has been difficult. More research is still needed to identify reliable biomarkers and understand the underlying mechanisms of the aging process.
This document discusses biomarkers of aging and the challenges involved in identifying accurate biomarkers. While aging affects many systems in the body, the aging process happens at different rates for different people. Scientists have looked at various cellular, hormonal, genetic and behavioral changes as potential predictors of aging rates, but none have proven to be true measures. An ideal biomarker of aging would need to accurately predict health declines related to age, be safely tested repeatedly in both humans and animals, and be simple and inexpensive. However, separating aging effects from disease impacts has been difficult. More research is still needed to identify reliable biomarkers and understand the underlying mechanisms of the aging process.
This document discusses biomarkers of aging and the challenges involved in identifying accurate biomarkers. While aging affects many systems in the body, the aging process happens at different rates for different people. Scientists have looked at various cellular, hormonal, genetic and behavioral changes as potential predictors of aging rates, but none have proven to be true measures. An ideal biomarker of aging would need to accurately predict health declines related to age, be safely tested repeatedly in both humans and animals, and be simple and inexpensive. However, separating aging effects from disease impacts has been difficult. More research is still needed to identify reliable biomarkers and understand the underlying mechanisms of the aging process.
all the systems in the body. With increasing age, physically and mentally healthy adults gradually become less fit and more vulnerable to illness and death. However, these changes happen at different rates in different people
AGING Chronological
age is the most obvious
marker of age. An 80-year-old may be physiologically better off than a 65-year-old. The aging process can catch up to different people at different times.
BIOMARKERS OF AGING The
idea of biomarkers is to measure the
aging process, but it has been difficult to separate this out from the effects of a disease if one is present. Studies on biomarkers of aging have looked for changes in cells, hormones, genes, and even behaviors to find a predictor of the rate of aging.
BIOMARKERS OF AGING Therefore,
scientists are looking for other
predictors of life span. While there are several candidates for such "biomarkers of aging," none have so far been proven to be a true measure of the underlying aging process. A true biomarker of aging must meet certain criteria in order to be both accurate and useful
CRITERIA FOR BIOMARKERS OF AGING
1. It must predict a person's physiological, cognitive, and physical function in an agerelated way. 2. It must be able to be tested repeatedly without harming the person. 3. It should work in laboratory animals as well as humans. Biomarkers need to be simple and inexpensive to use. They should cause little or no pain and stress. And they must measure aging accurately.
TARGETS FOR BIOMARKERS
No
biomarker has yet been successfully
identified. One difficulty has to do with the overlap between aging and disease. Both the aging process and diseases can cause changes in the body, which affect life span Another obstacle is the fact that some agerelated changes cause no harm, while others do. It isn't entirely known which changes are harmful and which are benign. This makes it more difficult to pinpoint exactly what to look for.
TARGETS FOR BIOMARKERS
Age
at menopause has been suggested as
a possible biomarker of aging for women. One study showed that women who had early menopause (before age 44) had shorter life spans than women who experienced menopause at ages 50 to 54. This suggests that ovarian function is related to the overall aging process, but the mechanistic links for this require further study
RESEARCH FOR BIOMARKERS
Aging
doesn't occur at a single rate, and
therefore the rate of aging can't be measured. Different body functions can change at different rates over time. A person may lose muscle strength faster than eyesight deteriorates. And there can be different reasons for the deterioration. For example, a person may lose muscle strength faster because he or she never had much strength to begin with. There are still many researchers who believe that there is a rate at which aging takes place and that it can be measured.
BIOMARKERS FOR AGING
There
is a slow shift toward prevention instead
of curative research. Each researcher appears to have a favorite marker for aging. There are over fourty potential markers for aging including lung capacity, systolic blood pressure, cartilage telomere, lens density, serum cholesterol, lipofuscin in cerebral ganglia, DHEA, etc.
BIOMARKERS FOR AGING
Researchers
have identified certain aging
forces in the body: oxidative damage (oxidative stress), ROS, faulty anti-oxidation system, DNA damage and faulty DNA repair process, alterations in gene expression, mitochondrial damage, protein damage and decreased rate of protein turn over, damage to lipids, glycation, neuro-hormonal deregulation, genetic programming of lifespan potential or a synergetic effect of all these factors.