According to a new study published on Wednesday in the academic journal Nature Aging, the human body experiences bursts of accelerated aging rather than aging continuously during middle age. These bursts usually occur around age 44 and again at age 60.
Researchers from Stanford University studied the effects of aging on over 135,000 different kinds of chemicals and microorganisms in samples taken from over 100 persons between the ages of 25 and 75 every three to six months.
As part of the study, more than 5,400 blood, feces, skin, nasal, and oral swabs were collected. This allowed the researchers to track over 135,000 distinct types of chemical compounds, bacteria, and aging-related cell components.
Researchers discovered that rather of changing gradually over time, the abundance of these chemicals and microorganisms grew and shrank quickly at two distinct ages: the beginning of a person’s 40s and again in their 60s.
Although there is evidence that cellular alterations are more likely to happen at these ages, additional research is necessary to determine why.
Co-author of the study Xiaotao Shen, a computational biologist at Nanyang Technology University in Singapore, told The Washington Post that “when people get old, the molecules in your body change.” “What we don’t know is what drives this change.”
According to the study, the results may provide light on age-related disorders and the reasons why certain diseases, like cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, tend to manifest at particular ages—roughly around age 40 and 65, respectively.