New research shows that the rate at which our brains age says something about our future health. Scientists have discovered that organs in our body do not all age at the same pace. The brain, for example, can age faster or slower than other organs.
The researchers analysed blood samples from more than 44,000 people. From these, they extracted information about proteins that reveal something about the age of various organs. Using this data, they created a method to estimate the biological age of the brain, amongst other things. This differs from chronological age; it shows how the body is truly functioning.
An important conclusion is that anyone with a brain age higher than their actual age is more likely to experience health problems such as cardiovascular disease or dementia. It can also indicate a shorter life expectancy. This shows that measuring the age of your brain provides valuable insight into your overall resilience and health.
Healthy brains therefore play an important role in ageing. By gaining more insight into how fast your brain ages, we can hopefully better predict which people are more susceptible to disease. This could improve the monitoring of health and prevention in the future.
For those who want to age healthily, it is good to know that your brain is crucial for a long and active life.
Source: Neuroscience News
