1 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays. Now, 2 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:17,119 Speaker 1: my younger listeners probably won't relate to this, but if 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: like me, you've got a little bit more mileage on 4 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: the clock. Have you ever noticed that physical changes just 5 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: seem to happen almost overnight, whether it's the sudden appearance 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: of wrinkles, aches and pains, or a sudden loss of 7 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: strength and speed, or the appearance of a middle aged spread, 8 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: and you think, when the hell did that happen? Maybe 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: you've also noticed that you can't seem to handle your 10 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: booze anymore, colloquially referred to where I'm from as a 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: loss of pub fitness, Well, there might just be a 12 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: scientific explanation for it. According to a new study. Research 13 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: suggests that, rather than being a slow and stay any 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: process as many of us would think, aging occurs in 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: at least two and possibly three accelerated bursts. Now, the 16 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: studying question, which was just published in the journal Nature Aging, 17 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: has the typically academic sounding title of nonlinear dynamics of 18 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: multi omix profiles during human aging. So what happened in 19 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: this study was that the researchers track thousands of different 20 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: molecules in people age between twenty five and seventy five, 21 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: and they detected two major waves of age related changes 22 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,279 Speaker 1: that happened on average at the age of forty four 23 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: and again on average at the age of sixty. And 24 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 1: the foundings could explain why spikes in certain health issues, 25 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: including musculo skeletal problems and cardiovascular disease risk tend to 26 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: occur as certain ages, and we see that happen in 27 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: published data. So when this research study, they tracked one 28 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: hundred volunteers. Now that's not a huge sample size, but 29 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: it's kind of big enough and statistically they did detect 30 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: these changes, and I would expect that we're going to 31 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: see other studies with bigger sample sizes doing the exact 32 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:23,079 Speaker 1: same thing. But it was a beautifully designed study. And 33 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: what these volunteers did is they submitted blood and stool 34 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: samples and then they give samples of their skin, oral 35 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: and nasal swabs every few months for between one and 36 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: nearly seven years, depending on who was studied. And then 37 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: the researchers looked at a number of what's referred to 38 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: as omics. So in biology, the word omics means the 39 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: sum of constituents within a cell. So the omics sciences 40 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:59,639 Speaker 1: shure the overarching em of identifying, describing, and quantifying biomolecules 41 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: and maleicular processes that contribute to the form and function 42 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: of cells and tissues. So it's basically a deep dive 43 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: into mechanisms driving cellular and tissue processes. And in this study, 44 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: the researchers assessed one hundred and thirty five different molecules. 45 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: So they looked at RNA, proteins, and metabolites and also 46 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: microbes these bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in our 47 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: guts and on our skin. And basically they looked at 48 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: a number of different things, which I'll explain a little 49 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: bit because you need to understand those. So the first 50 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: one was transcriptiomics, and this is basically analyzing the complete 51 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: set of messenger RNA molecules in a cell, so think 52 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: of gene expression for the layperson. Then they looked at proteomics, 53 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: and this is basically how all of the proteins in 54 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: a cell behave and that's really important as proteins are 55 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: the building blocks of cellular life. And they looked at metabolomics, 56 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: and this is the study of small molecules within the 57 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:09,839 Speaker 1: cell known as metabolites and just think of chemical fingerprints 58 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: of the cell. And then they looked at lipidomics, which 59 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: is the study of high the complete sets of lipids 60 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: or fats within a cell and tissues behave and how 61 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: they interact with other molecules. Then they also studied cytokines. Now, 62 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: these are messenger molecules in the body and brain that 63 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: run large could communicate between cells. And you may be 64 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: familiar with the term cytokine storm. We heard that in 65 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: COVID with people who had bad COVID infections. We talked 66 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: about this cytokine storm. So cytokines are often grouped as 67 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: either inflammatory and things such as T and F alpha 68 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: or interlook in six and anti inflammatory cidokines such as 69 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: interlook in ten, and it is it's important that we 70 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: have a balance of those. So, for instance, our response 71 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: to resistance training, our exit size involves inflammatory side of 72 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: kinds that actually trigger the remodel the remodeling of muscle, 73 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: and then we get activation of anti inflammatory molecules. So 74 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: we can't say that inflammatory is bad and anti inflammatory 75 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: is good. It's a balance of these things. What they 76 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: also looked at was a whole heap of clinical lab 77 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: test results, So think of the stuff that you normally 78 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: get tested when you go to your doctor. And then 79 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: they analyzed the entire microbiome. So they looked at the 80 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: microbium when people's gut, but also their skin microbiome, and 81 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: their nasal microbium and their oral microbiome. And we're starting 82 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: to see that that those ones we've known about the 83 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: gout for a long time and how it plays a 84 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,239 Speaker 1: role in human health, but also the other microbioms may 85 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: also play a role. And so what they found is 86 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: that the abundance of most molecules and microbes didn't shift 87 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: in a gradual chronological fashion. And so when the scientists 88 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: looked for clusters of molecules with the law shifts, they 89 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: found that these and big drives or changes tend to 90 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: occur when people were in their mid forties and their 91 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: early sixties. So the mid forties spike was kind of 92 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: unexpected to them and was initially assumed to be a 93 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: result of perimenopausal changes in women, skewing the results for 94 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: the whole group. But when they dug into the data, 95 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: they actually saw that similar shifts were happening in men 96 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: in their mid forties too. And I often talk to 97 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: men about this andropause that we go through that not 98 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: a lot of blokes have actually heard about. But anyway, 99 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: back to the study, what is very clear from this 100 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: study is that we are not just aging gradually at 101 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: a linear rate over time, which many people, including me, 102 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: would think. There are some really dramatic changes that these 103 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: couple of points, and it appears, at least from this 104 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: study that the mid forties really has dramatic change, as 105 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: does the early sixties. And what was really interesting is 106 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: that that actually held true no matter what class of 107 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: molecules they looked at, so this seemed to be across 108 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: the border throughout the body. So, for example, what they 109 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: found is the ability to metabolize caffeine notably decreases first 110 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: around the age of forty or early forties, and then 111 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: again at sixty. And then they also found that components 112 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 1: involved in metabolizing alcohol also diminished, particularly in the early forties, 113 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: which some people may have noticed in themselves. And these 114 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: phases of aging may explain the widely reported middle aged 115 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: spread that people notice in their forties, or or just 116 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: a loss of overall health and function. Now, the second 117 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,920 Speaker 1: wave of changes in around the age of sixty included. 118 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: Molecules involve an immune regulation, carbohydrate metabolism and kidney function, 119 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: and molecules linked to skin and muscle aging changed at 120 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: both time points in the early forties and around sixties, 121 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: and the latter probably explains the marked uptic that we 122 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: see incarcopenia or muscle wasting around the age of people 123 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: in their sixties, and we see that consistently in the data. 124 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: Encycopenia has been referred to as a geriatric disease, you know, 125 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: once you hit past sixties. But actually I was reading 126 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: a research paper the other day and it starts significantly 127 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: in people in their forties, So this study may explain 128 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: exactly that. So it appears then that we have these 129 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: aging spurts, and it actually fits with previous evidence that 130 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 1: many of the age related diseases don't increase incrementally. We see, 131 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: for example, a sharp uptick in cardiovascular disease in Alzheimer's 132 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: disease risk after the age of sixty, and it could 133 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: be that particularly it's that second wave of deterioration that 134 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: then drives these disease process Now, it's also possible that 135 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: at least some of these changes could be linked to 136 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: lifestyle of behavioral factors, and the researchers did note that so, 137 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: for instance, the change in alcohol metabolism could result from 138 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: what we tend to see as an uptick in consumption 139 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: and alcohol in people in their mid forties. That happens 140 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: in many many countries, and often that's associated with this 141 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: stressful period of life. The people in their forties often 142 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: referred to as the Sandwich generation because they get sandwich 143 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: between the twin stressors of having young kids and of 144 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: having parents who are getting old and increasingly suffering from 145 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,720 Speaker 1: disease and maybe even dying now. The first author of 146 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: the study, doctor Shen from a university in Singapore, said 147 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:04,120 Speaker 1: that the research suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may 148 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,479 Speaker 1: contribute to the observed changes in women in their mid forties, 149 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: there are likely other more significant factors influencing these changes 150 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: in both men and women, So we just can't put 151 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: stuff down to menopause now. Interestingly, previous research conducting it 152 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 1: in Germany suggested that a later spike in aging may 153 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: occur in the late seventies, and all averreage up was 154 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: around the age of seventy eight. Now. This study, which 155 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: was also published in Nature, but this time, Nature Medicine 156 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: looked at almost three thousand different blood proteins, so they 157 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: just looked at proteo mics, but they had over four 158 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,719 Speaker 1: thousand people in it, so a much bigger study. I'm 159 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: all raging from the age of eighteen to ninety five 160 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: years old, and they find changes in the proteum that essentially, 161 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: remember these proteins essentially run cellular life. And they found 162 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: there was distinct waves of changes in the fourth, seventh, 163 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,439 Speaker 1: and eighth decades. Now, the latest study couldn't confirm this 164 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: because the oldest participants and I want to say, couldn't 165 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: confirm it. Couldn't confirm the changes in the eighth decade 166 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,599 Speaker 1: in the late seventies. They couldn't confirm it because the 167 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: oldest participant in that study was seventy five. But if 168 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: we combine these two studies together, it looks like there 169 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: may be three distinct phases of human aging. So what's 170 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: the upshot? Is this a thea to complay that you're 171 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: going to go through these three aging spurts and decline 172 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: dramatically no matter what you do. Well, not at all, 173 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: according to the researchers, who emphasize the importance of lifestyle intervention. 174 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: And I have always said, once you hit the age 175 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: of forty, it is really important that you left heavy 176 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 1: shit right, and that we are getting more rigorous around 177 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: our exercise, reducing our alcohol whole consumption, getting serious about 178 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: our sleep hygiene, and just making sure that our diet 179 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: is better. And the people will have typically noticed that 180 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: life just seems to get harder, all of that physical 181 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: stuff when you hit your forties. And now there's very 182 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: good reasons for it, but that is when we need 183 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: to get on the front foot, particularly in our early forties. 184 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:27,559 Speaker 1: And then we just got to keep going because the 185 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: shit that we used to get away with in our 186 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: twenties and thirties, we can no longer get away with it, 187 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: and science is now telling us why. So let's get 188 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: on the front foot. That's it for this week, folks, 189 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:39,839 Speaker 1: catch you next time.