by Elena Meli
Depending on the part of us that ages faster, we can focus on the areas most in pain, thus also dragging the rest of the organism and aim for greater longevity.
And you, what age type are you? It is possible that we will have to get used to this bizarre question because each of us ages differently, precisely according to different aging types or ageotypes in English. The neologism was coined some time ago by a geneticist from the Californian University of Stanford, Michael Snyder, who discovered that the aging process is less linear than what we believed in the past because the body does not age in the same way everywhere: some organs and systems age earlier and worse than others, which instead remain young for longer.
The four main types of aging
According to Snyder’s research, the main directions along which we travel as the years pass would be four: there are those who have an immune system that suffers the blows of time more, those who are more fragile in the liver, those who feel age above all in the kidneys and those who age earlier on a metabolic level. These four Achilles’ heels would identify the four main types of aging, the aging types, and understanding what ours is could be a first step towards aiming for successful longevity, with interventions that instead of being 360 degrees could focus above all on maintaining young are the parts destined to age more quickly and badly. Furthermore, further investigations have already increased the possible aging types to at least 9 and Snyder himself recently stated that we have 78 organs, 78 aging types could exist. the main ones are likely to be around 50, to be reduced to 20 taking into account that many organs and systems are closely interconnected.
What affects aging
Aging is inevitable, but the speed with which different organs and systems do so is not the same: among the elements that most influence the process are genetic factors, lifestyle habits (those who are active will have muscles and bones that remain young for longer) but also parameters such as cell turnover, which when rapid contributes to keeping tissues young, or oxidative stress, which is greater for the skin or lungs, directly in contact with external agents.
Genes, environment and lifestyle choices therefore influence the way in which cells, organs and tissues slowly lose their functionality and so, for example, someone who has spent a lifetime doing active work in the open air at the age of 70 can perhaps have a fit heart and lungs, but wrinkled skin. Taking into account which part of the body is fastest in taking the path of decline, we could act to reduce the speed of the process in general, according to the theories of the American geneticist Michael Snyder.
What can change in the path of old age
The researcher, following some volunteers over time and measuring numerous parameters, identified the four main aging types and with these the pathologies most often involved in the path to old age.
Those with an aging metabolic type, for example, more often have altered blood sugar and cholesterol values, struggle to maintain weight and over time are more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes;
those with weak livers experience some difficulty in cleansing the body of waste and more often enter old age with problems such as hepatic steatosis, the so-called fatty liver;
the elderly renal type, on the other hand, has greater difficulty in maintaining an adequate water-salt balance and may experience hypertension as well as renal failure;
finally, the immune age type is the one that has the least ability to manage inflammation and infections and is more likely to get sick from pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis.
Mix of types
As Snyder explained, everyone’s profile is different and can be a mix between different aging types, in which one is predominant: a classic immune aging type with a young metabolic profile will be a thin elderly person without diabetes problems, but more at risk in the face of possible infections. Identifying our older side could have practical consequences: for example, if we are prone to developing diabetes due to an aging metabolic type, managing weight and resistance to insulin, the hormone necessary for glucose management, could slow down the aging keeping you healthy for longer. What happened in some of Snyder’s volunteers was: by changing habits, certain metabolic markers changed for the better, at least in the short term.
Genetics and epigenetics
Meanwhile, research to better characterize aging types continues, drawing on a myriad of data from projects such as the UK Biobank, which collects genetic, medical and lifestyle information from over 50,000 Britons, or the similar China National GeneBank: the results they already show that further aging types will need to be added, which take into account the specific fragility of organs and systems such as the lungs, muscles, heart and vessels. In short, the picture is becoming more complicated, not to mention that the investigations to identify the aging types are difficult and it is not enough to measure blood sugar, liver enzymes or white blood cells, a complex genetic, metabolic and molecular analysis is needed.
Andrea Ungar, president of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, underlines that the future of the science of aging lies in epigenetics, that is, in understanding how choices and the environment modify the expression of genes and therefore direct the different trajectories of organs and tissues in the time. However, a reductionist approach, concentrated on individual systems, could make us lose sight of the organism as a whole: some organs are more affected by the passage of time than others, but for healthy longevity it is also necessary to consider different parameters and, for example , don’t forget the importance of sociality which, despite having no direct effects on organs or systems, keeps you young as much as physical exercise, which counts even more than diet.
Movement
What we have available that is most similar to the fountain of youth is precisely movement, because it has a positive impact on most aging types. And if identifying one’s own weakness is not (yet) easy, there is however a way to understand one’s own weaknesses, as the geriatrician specifies: When we start taking medicine for a chronic problem, it means that this is our Achilles’ heel and from there begins the decline: if there is an imbalance in a system, other deficits are added in a cascade. Any pathology can trigger the acceleration of aging.
Healthy aging in other words means getting sick late, but you can always do something to rejuvenate yourself. Successful aging is also the best one can have with respect to one’s possibilities: a person with movement difficulties who no longer leaves the house can always be helped to do so again. Succeeding in this will be a success, an improvement in the quality of life, which is what really interests us as the years go by.
Corriere della Sera also on Whatsapp. sufficient click here to subscribe to the channel and always be updated.
January 21, 2024 (modified January 21, 2024 | 07:16)
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED