Ageing happens in sudden bursts, scientists reveal

Ever felt like you woke up one day and suddenly every organ in your body hurt? Turns out that you might not be imagining things. A shocking study by a team at Stanford Medicine shows that our bodies don’t just gradually wear down over time.

Instead, they undergo dramatic molecular transformations at specific ages. Ageing specifically speeds up at two particular age brackets - in the 40s and 60s.

While this discovery may unnerve some who fear growing old overnight, researchers say their study could also revolutionise how people understand ageing and approach age-related diseases.

For years, scientists held that ageing was a slow, steady process. However, these new research findings, published in Nature, paints a contrasting state of affairs.

By analysing thousands of molecules and microbes in people aged between 25 and 75 years, researchers uncovered a surprising truth: Human bodies experience rapid changes during these two key periods in our lives.

“We’re not just changing gradually over time; there are some really dramatic changes,” says Michael Snyder -PhD, a professor of genetics and the study’s senior author, in a university release.

“It turns out the mid-40s is a time of dramatic change, as is the early 60s. And that’s true no matter what class of molecules you look at,” he added.

Think of it like the body hitting sudden growth spurts as is the case of babies and teenagers, but instead of getting taller, it's these invisible molecular shifts. These changes affect everything from how your body processes alcohol and caffeine to how it regulates your immune system and heart health.

The study tracked an astonishing 135,000 different molecules and microbes in 108 participants over several years.

What they found was that around 81 per cent of these biological markers didn’t change gradually. Instead, they showed significant increases or decreases at specific ages, clustering around two time periods - the mid-40s and early 60s.

This discovery could explain why the risk of certain diseases seems to spike at particular ages. For instance, the study found that molecules related to cardiovascular disease showed significant changes at both time points. This suggests that the foundations for heart problems might be laid long before symptoms appear.

Interestingly, these changes weren’t just limited to women experiencing menopause. When researchers looked at men separately, they found similar shifts occurring in their mid-40s, too. This suggests that there are broader biological factors at play beyond hormonal changes.

While more research is necessary to fully understand these sudden shifts, the study’s findings highlight the importance of being proactive about one’s health, especially as middle age approaches.

“I’m a big believer that we should try to adjust our lifestyles while we’re still healthy,” Snyder says.

This could mean increasing exercise to protect the heart and maintain muscle mass or being more mindful of alcohol consumption as the body’s ability to process it changes.

As we unravel the mysteries of ageing, this research offers a new perspective on how our bodies change over time. It’s not a slow, steady decline but a series of dramatic transformations. By understanding these hidden milestones, we might one day be able to navigate the ageing process more smoothly, potentially preventing age-related diseases before they even begin.