A new study has found that people whose bodies are aging faster than their actual age may have a higher risk of developing dementia.
The study was published in the journal Neurology, from the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers say that while we can’t stop time, we may be able to slow how quickly our bodies age through healthy habits like exercise and diet.
Chronological age is the number of years someone has been alive. Biological age, however, is a measure of how well the body is functioning based on certain health markers. These include things like lung function, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and blood cell counts.
The idea is that two people who are both 60 years old could have very different biological ages—one might have the body of someone much younger, and the other, much older.
In this study, researchers looked at 280,918 people in the United Kingdom who did not have dementia when the study began. The average age of participants was 57. Scientists followed them for about 14 years. Over that time, 4,770 of them developed dementia.
To calculate biological age, researchers used two methods that considered several health indicators. These methods helped them assess how well different systems in the body—like the immune system, metabolism, heart, liver, and kidneys—were working.
The results showed a clear pattern: People who developed dementia not only had an older chronological age but also had a much older biological age. For example, their average biological age was 55, while those who didn’t get dementia had a biological age closer to 45.
When researchers grouped people by their biological age, those with the most advanced biological age were about 30% more likely to develop dementia than those whose bodies were aging more slowly. This remained true even after adjusting for other risk factors like smoking, education, and actual age.
The study also found that people with faster-aging bodies showed changes in the brain that are linked to dementia. These included a reduction in gray matter volume, which plays a key role in memory and thinking.
While these brain changes explained part of the connection between biological aging and dementia, they did not account for everything. This means other unknown factors may also be involved.
Dr. Yacong Bo, the lead author from Zhengzhou University in China, said the findings are important because they show we might have some control over our dementia risk. “While none of us can change our chronological age, we can influence our biological age through lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise,” he said.
One limitation of the study was that the people who participated were more health-conscious than the average person, so the results might not apply to everyone. Still, the large size and long follow-up time of the study make it an important step in understanding how aging and dementia are linked.
This study was supported by the governments of Henan Province and Zhengzhou City in China.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about Scientists find a simple solution to fight dementia and findings of Big causes of memory loss, dementia you need to know.
For more about dementia, please read studies about People who take high blood pressure medications have lower dementia risk and findings of Early indicators of dementia: 5 behaviour changes to look for after age 50.
The study is published in Neurology.
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