Has the Rate of Human Aging Already Been Modified?

Olshansky, S. Jay

doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a025965

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Data syntheses in biodemography and gerontology identify aging as the leading cause of human morbidity and mortality (1,2). The so-called "geroscience hypothesis" builds on these data to posit that interventions to slow the biological processes of aging could prevent or delay many different diseases simultaneously, prolonging the healthy years of life (3).…”

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confidence: 99%

Eleven Telomere, Epigenetic Clock, and Biomarker-Composite Quantifications of Biological Aging: Do They Measure the Same Thing?

Belsky

Moffitt

Cohen

et al. 2017

American Journal of Epidemiology

247

242

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The geroscience hypothesis posits that therapies to slow biological processes of aging can prevent disease and extend healthy years of life. To test such "geroprotective" therapies in humans, outcome measures are needed that can assess extension of disease-free life span. This need has spurred development of different methods to quantify biological aging. But different methods have not been systematically compared in the same humans. We implemented 7 methods to quantify biological aging using repeated-measures physiological and genomic data in 964 middle-aged humans in the Dunedin Study (New Zealand; persons born 1972-1973). We studied 11 measures in total: telomere-length and erosion, 3 epigenetic-clocks and their ticking rates, and 3 biomarker-composites. Contrary to expectation, we found low agreement between different measures of biological aging. We next compared associations between biological aging measures and outcomes that geroprotective therapies seek to modify: physical functioning, cognitive decline, and subjective signs of aging, including aged facial appearance. The 71-cytosine-phosphate-guanine epigenetic clock and biomarker composites were consistently related to these aging-related outcomes. However, effect sizes were modest. Results suggested that various proposed approaches to quantifying biological aging may not measure the same aspects of the aging process. Further systematic evaluation and refinement of measures of biological aging is needed to furnish outcomes for geroprotector trials.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Eleven Telomere, Epigenetic Clock, and Biomarker-Composite Quantifications of Biological Aging: Do They Measure the Same Thing?

Belsky

Moffitt

Cohen

et al. 2017

American Journal of Epidemiology

247

242

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“…To this end, we consider three instruments to correct for endogeneity. Our first instrument is GNP per capita which reflect a country's financial ability to conduct Covid-19 tests (an ability measure); the second instrument is the public expenditure on health care which captures a country's capacity to test the coronavirus (a capability measure); and the third instrument, which we consider a measure of public health status, is the survival to age 65 that indicates the progress 11 made against chronic fatal diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (Olshansky, 2015). The idea is to exploit the exogenous variation in the three instruments to obtain a consistent estimation of the predicted value of the number of tests in the first stage regression.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Policy Lessons from the COVID-19 Outbreak: How to Deal with it in the Post-Pandemic World?

Basher

Haque

2020

SSRN Journal

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Using cumulative confirmed cases of Covid-19 covering 163 countries, this paper tests several hypotheses that have received extensive attention in the popular media and academic research during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to identify lessons for designing better public health policies in the post-pandemic era based on the past 6 months' experiences of these 163 countries. Based on 2SLS regression, we derive the following lessons. First, providing universal health care is a significant public health strategy for countries to help deal with similar outbreaks in the future. Second, tackling air pollution is a win-win solution, not only for better preparedness against Covid-19 or other airborne diseases, but also for the environment and climate change. Third, lockdowns may help to reduce community spread but its impact on reducing Covid-19 incidence is not statistically significant.Similarly, antimalarial drugs have no significant effect on reducing the spread of the disease. Fourth, countries should encourage home-based work as much as possible until some treatment or cure is found for the virus. Fifth, the lessons of past SARS experience helped contain the spread of the infection in East Asian countries; other countries must adjust their social and cultural life to the new normal: wearing masks, washing hands, and keeping a distance from others in public places. 1 We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the discussants A.S.M. Alamgir, Fahmida Khatun, and Mohammad Mushtuq Husain and other participants at the East West University webinar for helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank Megan Foster for proofreading an earlier version of this paper. The usual disclaimer applies.

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“…This implies that something happened during hominins evolution that allowed us to live significantly longer. Indeed, human maximum longevity [(Dong et al ., ), with no increase since 1990 despite a considerable increase in the number of supercentenarians (Olshansky, )] is exceptional. The somatotropic signalling pathway has been implicated in aging and longevity studies in mice and other species (Le Bourg, ), but it is unlikely to differentiate man from great apes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacteria in the ageing gut: did the taming of fire promote a long human lifespan?

Danchin

2018

Environmental Microbiology

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Unique among animals as they evolved towards Homo sapiens, hominins progressively cooked their food on a routine basis. Cooked products are characterized by singular chemical compounds, derived from the pervasive Maillard reaction. This same reaction is omnipresent in normal metabolism involving carbonyls and amines, and its products accumulate with age. The gut microbiota acts as a first line of defence against the toxicity of cooked Maillard compounds, that also selectively shape the microbial flora, letting specific metabolites to reach the blood stream. Positive selection of metabolic functions allowed the body of hominins who tamed fire to use and dispose of these age-related compounds. I propose here that, as a hopeful accidental consequence, this resulted in extending human lifespan far beyond that of our great ape cousins. The limited data exploring the role of taming fire on the human genetic setup and on its microbiota is discussed in relation with ageing.

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Has the Rate of Human Aging Already Been Modified?

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

Eleven Telomere, Epigenetic Clock, and Biomarker-Composite Quantifications of Biological Aging: Do They Measure the Same Thing?

Eleven Telomere, Epigenetic Clock, and Biomarker-Composite Quantifications of Biological Aging: Do They Measure the Same Thing?

Public Policy Lessons from the COVID-19 Outbreak: How to Deal with it in the Post-Pandemic World?

Bacteria in the ageing gut: did the taming of fire promote a long human lifespan?

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