A new study has found that aging may not occur at a consistent pace throughout life, but rather accelerates at around age 50. Researchers in China conducted a study on 516 tissue samples from individuals spanning five decades and discovered that tissues and organs start aging faster around this age.
The study also included samples from 76 organ donors between the ages of 14 and 68. The researchers found that between the ages of 45 and 55, many tissues undergo significant changes in proteins, making them more susceptible to aging. Blood vessels were identified as being particularly vulnerable to aging.
According to study co-author Guanghui Liu, the findings suggest that aging is a whole-body process rather than affecting individual organs separately. Certain substances in the blood, known as “senokines,” were found to act as a clock for aging and accelerate the process.
Liu proposed that by linking tissue and plasma profiles, non-invasive assessments of age could be made based on blood samples. This could potentially lead to early interventions to counter accelerated aging of organs and reduce the risk of disease.
