What is biological age and how to determine it

The court refused to move the year of birth of Emil 20 years forward. This was expected, and many even thought that the Dutchman had filed his lawsuit solely for a joke. However, some scientists - physicians, gerontologists, bioethics specialists - believe that biological age may indeed be more important than passport age. And the right to change the year of birth should be legalized - just as in many countries it is allowed to change sex.

There are serious prerequisites for this opinion. They consist in the fact that knowledge of biological age gives much more information about health, performance, risks of various diseases and death, human capabilities than the chronological data recorded in documents.

What is biological age and how does it differ from chronological

Biological age T. M. Smirnova, V. N. Krutko, V. I. Dontsov, A. A. Podkolzin, A. G. Megreladze, S. E. Borisov, A. I. Komarnitsky. Problems of Determining Biological Age: Comparison of the Effectiveness of Linear and Nonlinear Regression Methods / Prevention of aging is an indicator of how physiologically worn out the body is. Wear is measured by S. Michal Jazwinski and Sangkyu Kim. Examination of the Dimensions of Biological Age / Frontiers of Genetics based on various biomarkers: blood parameters, metabolic rate, wear rate of internal organs, cognitive states in each individual.

If chronologically all people age at the same rate - by a month in a calendar month, by a year in a calendar year, then biological aging is individual. Someone in 5 years can biologically grow old for all 10. And the other, having lived up to the passport 60, feels and has physiological and mental characteristics comparable to the reference 40-year-old.

Why biological age is important

All the same Emile Ratelband mentioned Emile Ratelband, 69, told he cannot legally change his age / BBC reasons that made him think about changing the age in the passport. “If I'm 49, I can still buy a new house, drive another car. I can work harder. Or: “When I go to Tinder and write that I'm 69, I don't get an answer. And if I’m 49, with my face and body, I’ll be in a gorgeous position.” Ageism is a really serious reason to want to look younger at least with a passport. However, from the point of view of doctors, there are more important arguments.

Research by S. Michal Jazwinski and Sangkyu Kim. Examination of the Dimensions of Biological Age / Frontiers of Genetics, biological age speaks about the risks of various diseases and premature death much more than chronological. For example, in one work Jacob K. Kresovich, Zongli Xu, Katie M. O'Brien, Clarice R. Weinberg, Dale P. Sandler, Jack A. Taylor. Methylation-Based Biological Age and Breast Cancer Risk / Journal of the National Cancer Institute, scientists have found that if a woman is biologically 5 years older than her passport, her risk of getting breast cancer increases by 15%.

According to other sources, the complexity of the gut microbiome, on which the metabolic rate and state of immunity depend, is also more closely related to biological age than chronological one. Patrick J. Brown, Melanie M. Wall, Chen Chen, Morgan E. Levine, Kristine Yaffe, Steven P. Roose, Bret R. Rutherford are also more likely to develop severe depression in the elderly. Biological Age, Not Chronological Age, Is Associated with Late-Life Depression / The Journals of Gerontology: Series A if the biological age exceeds the chronological age.

Thus, biological age makes it possible to assess the health and capabilities of a person much more accurately than the number of years lived. This is an important reason why you should at least take it into account when prescribing treatment, preventive measures and calculating the cost of health insurance.

How is biological age determined?

There is no generally accepted scientific way to do this yet. Scientists are just groping for Linpei Jia, Weiguang Zhang, and Xiangmei Chen. Common methods of biological age estimation / Clinical Interventions in Aging.

So, Chul-Young Bae, Meihua Piao, Miyoung Kim, Yoori Im, Sungkweon Kim, Donguk Kim, Junho Choi & Kyung Hee Cho are known. Biological age and lifestyle in the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome: the NHIS health screening data, 2014–2015 / Nature, which can be estimated by physical parameters: appearance, endurance, excess weight, expiratory volume per second, hearing and visual acuity, the state of the cardiovascular system and the level of blood pressure, a blood test, which helps to identify various "age" biomarkers such as high cholesterol or C-reactive protein.

Epigenetics also looks promising. The epigenetics of aging: What the body's hands of time tell us / National Institute of Aging is a branch of genetics that studies the changes that accumulate in the DNA of cells over time. Among other things, scientists are able to detect in DNA the so-called markers of aging: the more there are, the more the body is worn out. An epigenetic test only requires a saliva or blood sample. But not every laboratory is engaged in such research.

In addition, a person's cognitive abilities play an important role: memory, ability to concentrate, the ability to analyze information and learn new things. Scientists explain the likely connection between brain function and biological age as follows:

Terry Moffitt MD, Duke University, epigenetics specialist.

The brain is the most "hungry" organ: it consumes the most resources. If there is something wrong in the body with the state of cells and physical health, the problem first of all manifests itself in the functions of the brain.

Is it possible to determine the biological age on your own

Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to do this without the help of specialists and specific analyzes. But there are several ways, albeit not the most accurate ones.

1. By blood test

This opportunity is offered by the online service "", developed by scientists from the National Research Nizhny Novgorod State University named after N. I. Lobachevsky. To use it, you need to pass a general blood test, and then enter its results into the form.

The developers warn that the resulting value is only approximate. But with the help of the service, you can track how your biological age changes year after year. To do this, you need to do a blood test and use a calculator on a regular basis - once every 1, 5–2 years.

2. According to medical history and lifestyle

This calculation was carried out by the RealAge Longevity Calculator Review / VeryWellHealth, the popular American online service RealAge. People were asked to answer more than 100 questions: how often do you go in for sports, do you have bad habits, how many times a year do you have ARVI, what diseases you have suffered in the past, what is the circumference of your waist, is there any hereditary diseases in your family, how you give preference to products and so on. After analyzing the responses, RealAge gave the result - the approximate biological age.

The service was used by about 30 million people. But then the calculator just disappeared. What Happened to Realage? / Medical Alert Buyersguide. According to some reports, it was bought by a large medical resource, which has not yet been able to use its acquisition.

Perhaps one day RealAge will work again. At least Sharecare, the company that paid for it, planned to make the service one of the 10 most visited sites on the Internet.

In the meantime, you can take advantage of the less global Quiz: Discover Your Real Age / Health from Health, a health resource. The test is in English, you can pass it, for example, with the help of a Google translator.

3. By physical characteristics

This is the most controversial and unreliable option. But one thing is definitely established by E. Nakamura, T. Moritani, A. Kanetaka. Biological age versus physical fitness age / European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology.

The better you are physically developed, the more regularly you exercise, the lower your biological age.

Physiologists have long been trying to develop a formula that could bring together a person's physical data and the degree of wear and tear of his body. There are a lot of options Karamova R. F., Khasanov A. G., Nafikova R. A. A new look at the age criterion of patients with a surgical profile / Scientific Review. Medical sciences, but so far none of them is generally accepted.

How to use these formulas can be seen on the example of one of the most famous - the Voitenko formula. According to her, biological age (BV) is defined as follows:

The abbreviations that are part of the formulas are deciphered as follows.

ABP - systolic blood pressure, "upper", measured in mm Hg.
HFA is the duration of holding the breath after a deep breath, measured in seconds.
SB - static balancing, also in seconds. To find this parameter, stand on your left foot, close your eyes, lower your arms along your torso and record how long you can hold out in this position.
ARP - pulse blood pressure: this is the difference between the "upper" and "lower" pressure indicators.
MT - body weight in kg.
POPs is a subjective assessment of health. It is determined by a special questionnaire that includes 29 questions. The POP at ideal health is 0. In the worst case, 29.

If you calculate your biological age using these formulas, keep in mind that the value will only be approximate.

Is it possible to reduce biological age

Unlikely. Changes that have accumulated in cells are difficult (if not impossible) to reverse. But you can try to slow down aging. So that, for example, after a year or five years, your biological age grows less than your chronological one.

The answer to the question "how to do it" will definitely not surprise you. These are all the same hackneyed rules of a healthy lifestyle What Is Your Biological Age? And Why Does It Matter? / Elysium Health, which doctors are already talking about at every turn.

Eat right. Your diet should contain a lot of vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy products and less convenience foods and fast food.
Be socially active. The more friends and acquaintances you have, the better.
Learn to control stress.
Get enough sleep. The sleep rate for an adult is 7-9 hours a day.
Be physically active. You should have both walks and regular sports in your life.

Scientists have not yet come up with other options to slow down the biological clock. So we use what we have.