First at 44 and again at 60, people experience faster ageing at two key points in their lives. It is a new discovery from Stanford University and Nanyang Technological University researchers that could help scientists better understand how humans age on a molecular level.
Published in science journal Nature Ageing, the research followed 108 California-based participants ages 25 to 75 for around 20 months, with some being tracked for nearly seven years.
Each volunteer gave biological specimens, including skin, oral and nasal swabs, and blood and stool samples, every three to six months.
The objective? To track changes to molecules, particularly RNA, proteins and microbiomes.
“Take care of yourself more closely at specific time points during your lifespan,” study author Shen Xiaotao, assistant professor in microbiome medicine at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, told CNN.