Research published in the medical journal Nature Medicine warns that future generations are aging at a faster biological rate and face an earlier risk of cancer.
The work was led by Dr. Yin Cao, a molecular epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (USA) and colleagues implemented and announced at the end of June.
The authors analyzed blood data from more than 154,000 adults in the UK (comparing groups born in the early 1950s with those in the late 1960s and early 1970s) and more than 10,000 people in the US (born in the 1960s compared with the 1990s).
The results showed that the group born from 1965 to 1974 in the UK had a biological aging index 23% higher than the group born in the early 1950s. In the US, this trend was even more serious when the group born from 1990 to 1999 (Millennials generation) had a level of premature aging up to 92% higher than the group born from 1965 to 1969.
To measure the body’s true aging level instead of just relying on paper age, researchers use the PhenoAge index. This measure combines actual age with 9 biomarkers in the blood, including sugar levels, indicators of kidney function (creatinine), liver (albumin), immune system (white blood cell count) and the level of inflammation in the body (CRP index). Analyzing the difference between biological age and actual age helps sketch a comprehensive picture of the health of an entire generation.
Analyzing this relationship in depth, the research team found that the higher the premature aging score, the greater the probability of getting cancer before the age of 55. Biological aging occurs by different mechanisms for each type of disease. Specifically, impaired immune system function is closely related to early-onset lung cancer. Meanwhile, the deterioration of adipose tissue is directly related to colorectal cancer.
Illustration photo: KoolShooters
For a long time, cancer often appears in older people due to serious genetic damage that gradually accumulates in cells over time under the influence of food, air, sunlight and lifestyle. When these DNA errors accumulate, cells will divide uncontrollably and form tumors. However, research shows that modern lifestyles and environments are accelerating this destructive process in young people, causing them to face the diseases of old age sooner.
According to Dr. Yin Cao, the goal of the research is to understand how the modern environment affects human physical health. Identifying high-risk young people while they are still healthy will help the health sector develop personalized early screening and prevention measures, instead of applying general recommendations for everyone.
Agreeing with the above opinion, Mr. David Scott, Director of the Cancer Grand Challenges Research Foundation, commented that world medicine has not yet found the single cause driving the rejuvenating cancer wave. However, new findings have proven that cancer does not originate only from single changes in cells, but is a consequence of the decline in function of the entire body.