Delving into secrets of youth

They may not have discovered the secret of eternal youth, but researchers in a University of Otago study have found a new way to determine the extent of people's ''biological ageing''.

Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study director Prof Richie Poulton said that when the new biomarker testing approach was applied to Dunedin study participants at the age of 38, their ''biological ages'' were found to range from 30 to nearly 60.

Most study members were found to be ageing about one biological year per chronological year, but others aged at up to three times this rate.

And many were ageing at zero years per year, and were staying younger than their chronological age, Prof Poulton said.

This research, gleaned from participants in the university's long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study, could open a new door to therapies to slow ageing and help prevent age-related diseases.

In a paper just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team from the United States, United Kingdom, Israel and New Zealand has revealed a panel of 18 biomarkers that together can show if people are ageing faster or slower than their peers.

Prof Poulton was ''proud'' of the latest research resulting from the Dunedin Study, and said this was opening up an exciting new field.

In the Dunedin study, many health measures - including blood pressure, liver and kidney function - have been taken regularly.

Individuals who were ageing more rapidly in terms of the biomarker analysis were less physically able, showed cognitive decline, reported worse health, and looked older.

This research was supported by the New Zealand Health Research Council, the US National Institute on Ageing, the UK Medical Research Council, the Jacobs Foundation, and the Yad Hanadiv Rothschild Foundation.

The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study has continued to track more than 1000 people born in Dunedin in 1972-73 since birth.

john.gibb@odt.co.nz

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