Health
You Shift Gears at 3 Ages
Blood levels of proteins reflect the starting, stopping, and changing of biological processes linked to aging. We make significant changes at three ages.
“The wiser mind mourns less for what age takes away than what it leaves behind.”
This is the insightful observation of William Wordsworth (1770–1850), the English romantic who (along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge) helped initiate the Romantic Age in English literature. Together, they published Lyrical Ballads in 1798.
Today is not a day for literature. Instead, I want to share with you the remarkable findings of researchers from Stanford University. They looked at almost 3,000 proteins in the blood of 4,263 subjects ages 18 to 95. Here’s what they discovered:
- 1,379 proteins changed with an individual’s age
- Using information from only 373 proteins, the researchers could predict a subject’s age with great accuracy. Using just nine proteins allowed for a reasonably good prediction.
Proteins help to carry out instructions from the cells of your body. When blood levels of proteins change, biological processes change. The Staford scientists found the changes in the protein levels can be…
