{"id":23350,"date":"2025-03-06T09:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23350"},"modified":"2025-03-06T10:24:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T10:24:32","slug":"do-we-age-steadily-or-in-bursts-what-scientists-know-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23350","title":{"rendered":"Do We Age Steadily, or in Bursts? What Scientists Know So Far."},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">New technologies are giving scientists a better understanding of how the process actually works.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For many people, aging feels like it happens in stops and starts. After a period of smooth sailing, one day, seemingly out of the blue, you have achy knees.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYou wake up in the morning and you suddenly feel old,\u201d said Dr. Steve Hoffmann, a computational biology professor at the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena, Germany. \u201cThat\u2019s sort of the takeaway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It turns out there may be a scientific basis for this experience. By analyzing <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/19\/well\/live\/biological-age-testing.html\" title>age-related markers<\/a>, such as proteins and DNA tags in the bloodstream, some scientists are coming to understand that aging in adulthood is not a linear process, but perhaps one that jumps dramatically at certain points in one\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Here\u2019s what they\u2019ve learned so far, and what it could ultimately mean for your health and life span.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-e0f5dac\">What does \u2018nonlinear aging\u2019 look like?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Scientists have long suspected that aging may happen in bursts, but they only began using molecular signals to measure the pace of aging in the past decade or so.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43587-024-00692-2\" title rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">widely covered Stanford study<\/a> published last year tracked several molecular changes associated with aging in blood samples gathered from 108 adults between age 25 and 75. By comparing samples from different subjects of different ages, it found that people seemed to age more rapidly around age 44, and again around 60. The clusters of changes in the first spike appeared to be mostly related to fat and alcohol metabolism, as well as muscle function, and the second spike mostly to immune dysfunction and muscle function. The first spike could help explain why people seem to have more trouble <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/09\/well\/alcohol-middle-age.html\" title>processing alcohol<\/a> starting in their 40s, and why they become more prone to illness in their 60s, said Michael Snyder, a professor of genetics at Stanford Medicine and study coauthor.<\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171quhb\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F06%2Fwell%2Fnonlinear-aging.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F06%2Fwell%2Fnonlinear-aging.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F06%2Fwell%2Fnonlinear-aging.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F06%2Fwell%2Fnonlinear-aging.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New technologies are giving scientists a better understanding of how the process actually works.For many people, aging feels like it happens in stops and starts. After a period of smooth sailing, one day, seemingly out of the blue, you have achy knees.\u201cYou wake up in the morning and you suddenly feel old,\u201d said Dr. Steve Hoffmann, a computational biology professor at the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena, Germany. \u201cThat\u2019s sort of the takeaway.\u201dIt turns out there may be a scientific basis for this experience. By analyzing age-related markers, such as proteins and DNA tags in the bloodstream, some scientists are coming to understand that aging in adulthood is not a linear process, but perhaps one that jumps dramatically at certain points in one\u2019s life.Here\u2019s what they\u2019ve learned so far, and what it could ultimately mean for your health and life span.What does \u2018nonlinear aging\u2019 look like?Scientists have long suspected that aging may happen in bursts, but they only began using molecular signals to measure the pace of aging in the past decade or so.A widely covered Stanford study published last year tracked several molecular changes associated with aging in blood samples gathered from 108 adults between age 25 and 75. By comparing samples from different subjects of different ages, it found that people seemed to age more rapidly around age 44, and again around 60. The clusters of changes in the first spike appeared to be mostly related to fat and alcohol metabolism, as well as muscle function, and the second spike mostly to immune dysfunction and muscle function. The first spike could help explain why people seem to have more trouble processing alcohol starting in their 40s, and why they become more prone to illness in their 60s, said Michael Snyder, a professor of genetics at Stanford Medicine and study coauthor.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23352,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23350"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23353,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23350\/revisions\/23353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}