MAN has always been fascinated about the “fountain of youth” which noted Spanish Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon is reported to have fanatically searched for in Florida in 1513.
Today, beyond looking for that illusive “miraculous” potion, science, which has been searching for eons, appears to have partially cracked “the code” for longevity, a molecular metric called Aging Clock. While the calendar helps us count our chronological age, the Aging Clock measures our actual biological age – how old our body really is – like a running, ticking, digital stopwatch.
This newly discovered biologic Aging Clock tells us which lifestyle factors affect and control our longevity, and could be “quantified” by analyzing and evaluating our blood proteins as “Molecular Markers,” reported by Medical News Today.
This new study using the proteomic Aging Clock offers more evidence of how genetics, mental health, chronic illnesses, diet, lifestyles and environmental factors influence how we age, including smoking status, physical activity and living conditions.
Half a million
The clinical analysis evaluated “medical data from almost half a million individuals in the UK BioBank to find out the impact of 164 different lifestyle and environmental facts on aging, age-related illnesses and premature deaths. Of the 25 lifestyle and environmental factors that are linked to mortality and proteomic aging, as well as biomarkers for major disease risks, 23, thank God, are modifiable. Interestingly, these include “cheese consumption, ease of skin tanning, degree of education, employment status, ethnicity, frequency of feeling tired, gym use, financial
difficulties, household income, physical activity, sleeping hours, smoking status, type of housing (house, apartment, mobile home, etc.) use of open fire for heating, and weight and
height when the subject was 10 years old.” The researchers found that “smoking, socioeconomic status, physical activity, and living conditions were the factors that had the most influence on mortality and biological aging. Smoking alone was associated with 21 diseases, and socioeconomic factors and tiredness frequency with 19 diseases.”
Back to basic
In this modern day and age of fancy new trends in health and wellness, this study highlights the fact that “getting back to the basic will possibly have the largest and most strategic impact on improving population health,” comments researcher Austin Argentieri, PhD.
The team, overall, “attributed 17% of the variation in risk of death to environmental factors, compared to less than 2% explained by genetic predisposition for 22 major diseases….and that environmental exposures had a greater effect on lung, heart, and liver diseases, while genetic risk still dominated for dementias and breast cancer.” The fact that environmental exposures account for 17 percent of mortality risk compared to less than 2 percent from genetics is a great blessing and gives us a wise opportunity to live a healthier lifestyle and significantly lessen our exposure to environmental dangers and poisons, instead of being a hostage fated without hope to our genetic make-up. Lifestyle versus genetics Lifestyle and environments are almost 10 times more significant in mortality risk than our genetic predisposition for major disease-causing death. As highlighted in my book, Let’s Stop “Killing” Our Children (on Amazon.com), a manual on healthy lifestyle and disease prevention, we have the power to maintain health and live to our maximal longevity, if a healthy lifestyle is started while in our mother’s womb, in the crib, as a toddler, and in an environment conducive to wellness, physically, mentally, and, biologically as well. Prevention is our vital key health akin to vaccines as prophylaxis against infectious killers or cancers, like cervical cancer today, but vaccines to prevent other cancers are coming. Aging and longevity are not fully predetermined by our genetics, but by our habits and behavior and environment. Reducing harmful exposures to tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs, and other dangerous elements in our environment are also vital to health. The molecular marker proteomic Aging Clock will now enable researchers to fully integrate multi-omics data (genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) and provide us a more comprehensive view of how environmental and genetic factors interplay, and provide clinicians tools for a more individualized, personalized, approach to preventive care strategies for each person.
AI in medicine
Someday, with the help of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM), your physician would be able to predict illnesses EACH person will have and exactly what exact food items, habits, behavior, and preventive medications the individual should consume, or not consume, to stay healthy and preclude diseases. All from our DNA and various molecular markers in our system. An example: Today, through clinical evidence-based research, we know that the so-called Nightshade (Solanaceae) veggies are bad for those with arthritis: raw tomato with skin and seeds, potato, eggplant, bell pepper, paprika, cayenne, chili. They are inflammatory foods and aggravate pains. These veggies also contain solanine which increase intestinal leakiness and adversely affects gastrointestinal microbiota. Tobacco actually belongs to the Nightshade family also. Someday, science will also be able to tell which individual (as early as in childhood) who has a type of personal metabolism which would allow them to eat a lot of red meat and not suffer any untoward health consequences. For now, let’s follow the guidelines today of eating mostly plant-based food items daily,
minimum carbohydrates, eating red meat no more than 3 servings (total of about 12 ounces) a week, drinking a lot of filtered water, about 2 regular cups of coffee (or tea), if desired, eating fruits and healthy nuts and staying away from soft drinks. Of course, no smoking/chewing tobacco, and remember, there is no safe level of alcohol intake. Occasional (once or twice a month) indulgence in fast food is acceptable to pamper ourselves and for gastronomic delight. Most importantly, we must listen to our body and protect it from harm.
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, health advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995, presented by then Indiana Governor, U.S. senator, and later a presidential candidate, Evan Bayh. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, pugilist Muhammad Ali, David Letterman, Astronaut Gus Grissom, distinguished educators, scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com; Email: [email protected].
