Scientists pinpoint when humans start ‘ageing’

There comes a certain time where we start groaning trying to get ourselves off of a chair. We complain that our bodies are getting old, and we just don’t have the energy that we used to. Well, researchers now say they have pinpointed exactly when we start ageing... (Picture: Getty)

The new research says that we begin seriously ageing as young as 30. This is the age where our bodies begin to break down. At this time, the adrenal gland, which sits in the top of the kidneys and releases hormones vital for regulating bodily functions, begins to show changes in protein levels. The researchers found an increase in 48 disease-related proteins as tissue samples trended older. But this isn’t the age when we seriously begin ageing – that’s at 50 (Picture: Getty)

What did the researchers do?

Publishing their study in the journal Cell, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences collected tissue samples across the body’s major organ systems from 76 individuals of Chinese ancestry. The samples came from those who had died from accidental brain injury and were aged between 14 to 68(Picture: Getty)

What did they find?

The experts discovered that certain tissues, such as blood vessels, experience ageing faster than others. The scientists also identified the proteins responsible for this accelerated process. Large changes in protein levels were spotted around the ages of 45 and 55, and one of the biggest shifts was in the aorta. Scientists suspect that blood vessels carry these age-accelerating molecules throughout the body (Picture: Getty)

The authors wrote: ‘Based on aging-associated protein changes, we developed tissue-specific proteomic age clocks and characterised organ-level aging trajectories. Temporal analysis revealed an aging inflection around age 50, with blood vessels being a tissue that ages early and is markedly susceptible to ageing' (Picture: Getty)

This study’s conclusion fits in nicely with a previous study from Stanford University which showed that humans largely experience a period of accelerated ageing at around 44 and the early 60s. Stanford University’s Michael Snyder, a professor of genetics, and lead author of the study, said about the current study: ‘It fits the idea that your hormonal and metabolic control are a big deal. That is where some of the most profound shifts occur as people age. We’re like a car. Some parts wear out faster’ (Picture: Getty)

Understanding how humans age will help doctors to find ways to help us live healthy, longer lives, and to learn more about how the body experiences ageing throughout our lifetime. 'These insights may facilitate the development of targeted interventions for ageing and age-related diseases, paving the way to improve the health of older adults,' said the study authors (Picture: Getty)