The aging process does not always proceed at the same speed and in a straight line. An important scientific study led by Stanford University has revealed that molecular changes related to aging in the human body particularly accelerate sharply around the ages of 44 and 60.
For many years, it was thought that the aging process occurs slowly and gradually. However, according to a study published by the scientific portal "ScienceAlert," biological leaps related to aging in the human organism occur suddenly in waves at certain age periods.
Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford University, and his team collected regular biological samples over several years from 108 adults aged between 25 and 70 to study the molecular effects of aging. During the research, over 135,000 biological traits relating to RNA, proteins, lipids (fats), as well as the microbiome of the gut, skin, nose, and mouth were analyzed.
The researchers detected a sharp quantity change in molecules in about 81% of the human body's molecules at two different periods. The first peak of these molecular changes occurs at an average age of 44, and the second major wave occurs around the age of 60.
Geneticist Michael Snyder commented on the findings as follows:
"As time passes, we do not just change gradually; truly very dramatic and sudden biological changes occur in our bodies at certain ages."
What changes in our body at which age?
Mid-40s (around 44 years old): Changes occurring during this period are mainly related to lipid (fat), caffeine, and alcohol metabolism. At the same time, serious signs of aging begin in molecules responsible for cardiovascular disease risk, skin, and muscle functions.
Early 60s (around 60 years old): At this stage, carbohydrate and caffeine metabolism, regulation of the immune system, kidney functions, as well as cardiovascular health, skin, and muscle tissues undergo another sharp transformation.
The cause is not just menopause
The first sudden biological aging wave occurring in the mid-40s is linked to menopause or perimenopause (the period before menopause) in women, but scientific analyses have shown a different result. The observation of exactly the same molecular changes and aging leaps in men of the same age group proves that this process cannot be explained solely by hormonal changes (menopause) in women.
One of the study’s authors, Xiaotao Shen, notes that menopause may have a role in the changes occurring in the 40s, but there are also other unknown biological factors equally effective in both women and men.
Although the scientists state that these findings were obtained from a small group (108 people) and need to be tested on larger populations in the future, this study confirms that aging does not progress like calendar pages in a straight line but that our body passes through "biological transition rooms" at certain age thresholds./milli.az