Scientists have developed a way to measure the biological age of the brain – and it turns out to be one of the most powerful predictors of future health and lifespan.
In a large new study, researchers analysed blood samples from 45,000 adults, measuring their levels of more than 3,000 proteins. Many of these proteins were linked to specific organs, including the brain, allowing them to estimate a ‘biological age’ for each organ system.
When an organ’s protein profile differed significantly from the average for someone’s chronological age (the number of birthdays they've had), it was classified as either ‘extremely aged’ or ‘extremely youthful’.
Of all the organs measured, the brain stood out as the strongest predictor of health outcomes, the researchers found.
“The brain is the gatekeeper of longevity,” Prof Tony Wyss-Coray, senior author of the new study published in Nature Medicine, said in a statement. “If you’ve got an old brain, you have an increased likelihood of mortality. If you’ve got a young brain, you’re probably going to live longer.”
Participants with an extremely aged brain were 12 times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease within a decade than those of the same age with a biologically youthful brain.
An aged brain also increased the risk of death from any cause by 182 per cent over a 15-year period, while youthful brains were linked to a 40 per cent reduction in mortality.
Assessing the brain and other organs in terms of their biological age could, Wyss-Coray said, usher in a new era of preventative medicine.
“This is, ideally, the future of medicine,” he said. “Today, you go to the doctor because something aches, and they take a look to see what’s broken. We’re trying to shift from sick care to health care and intervene before people get organ-specific disease.”
The team is now working to commercialise the test, which they say could be available in the next two to three years – likely starting with key organs like the brain, heart and immune system.
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