Essential
- A study shows that the brain and the immune system, whose age can be measured through a blood test, are the best indicators of longevity.
- People with these two “young” bodies reduce their risk of death by more than 50 %.
- Lifestyle, food and supplements can positively influence this biological age.
The secret of centenarians may well hide in their brain and their immune system. And, by monitoring the youth of their organs by biological measures, it could become possible to predict-and perhaps even to brake-aging, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Medicine.
A blood biological clock
In the United States, researchers from Stanford University have developed an unprecedented method to estimate the biological age of 11 major organs, thanks to the analysis of nearly 3,000 proteins in the blood. When an organ ages or undergoes damage, it indeed releases certain proteins in the blood circulation. By decoding these “Protein imprints”artificial intelligence can estimate the real age of an organ, and thus determine if it is prematurely “old” or, on the contrary, remarkably “young.
The study focused on more than 44,000 participants aged 40 to 70, followed for 17 years. She has shown, quite logically, that the more an individual had “older” organs, the more his risk of death increased. In detail, having between five and seven aging organs multiplied by 4.5 this risk by 4.5, and people with eight or more degraded organs had 8.3 times more likely to die.
Among all the organs analyzed, the brain turned out to be the most decisive. Those whose gray matter seemed younger than their chronological age had 40 % risk in less death. The organs of the immune system (spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow …) were not to be outdone, with a protection of 42 %. And the combination of the two reduced the risk by 56 %. “We expected that many more organs are linked to longevity, but our data suggests that the immune system and the brain are the most important”note the researchers in a press release. They underline their central role in the regulation of our physiology, between nerve responses and inflammation.
How to slow down his aging?
Good news: this biological age is not frozen. The researchers have identified lifestyle factors directly influencing the youth of the organs. Unsurprisingly, tobacco, alcohol, ultra-transformed and bad sleep diet accelerate aging. Conversely, intense physical activity, a diet rich in fish, and a good level of education protect our organs.
Certain complements such as vitamin C, cod liver oil or ibuprofen have also shown beneficial effects, especially on the brain and kidneys. As for hormone therapy, it seems associated with an increased youth of the liver, the arteries and the immune system.
