Biological Age - a paradigm shift in measurement of Age
We have so far been accustomed to using our chronological age as an indicator of our age. It is simple, definite, statistical and easily measurable. What's more, it is indisputable. I would like to call it ‘calendar age’ as it goes by our birth entry in the calendar of life. All our scientific experiments related to health , diet and medicine are based on chronological age. They say when you are above 60 years of age, your chances of getting cancer is xx %, or the permissible blood sugar level is as per the xx age table. All these figures of age relate to our calendar age.
Scientists are now discovering that using calendar age for determining the pattern of health and disease is a highly approximate way of arriving at conclusions. In fact it may even be erroneous. What we need is biological age measurement. It is not easy. It is an emerging science. It will radically change the way we monitor and improve our health and ultimately have youthful days well past our high score on calendar age.
Many of the most prevalent diseases like cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, metabolic and autoimmune diseases are closely associated with age. Primary prevention and early diagnosis of these diseases is very important. They have a dramatic impact on quality of life at an advanced age. It contributes to increase in life expectancy through reduction of incidence and the retardation of the age-associated diseases.
There are differences amongst different individuals about age-associated decline in performance that are reflected by measurable biological indicators. These indicators are telomere length, signal joint T-cell receptor rearrangement excision circles and specific DNA-methylation and gene expression events. The age-related risk of disease is reflected in the age-dependent number of stem cell division for specific tissues which is not just restricted to cancer, life long exposure to environmental insults, poor diet, radiation and chemical toxins and most important poor lifestyle. The efficacy of the endogenous (internal to the physical body) repair system such as the DNA repair machinery. Chronic inflammation increases with age. It is likely to be both a cause and a consequence of age-related physiological decline. The psychological stress that accumulates over a lifetime and the related resilience are also contributing factors to aging.
We all have come across certain persons who look younger/older than their calendar age. This is because their differing biological ages are not in sync with their calendar ages. At present the diagnostic and therapeutic treatments are mostly prescribed by applying calendar age-thresholds. For example, cardiovascular preventative drugs are prescribed for the persons of over 50 years of age, mammographic breast cancer screening is recommended for women over 50. Colonoscopy is recommended for the prevention of colon cancer for the elderly above 60 years of age. Scientists are now realizing that it is essential to consider biological age while prescribing medical treatment.
Biological age is determined about the performance of the different segments of your physiology at any given point of time. It is often correlated with the population statistics based on the empirical study to determine whether you are better or worse than the pattern of health exhibited by the population at your calendar age. This is all approximations. There is no ‘definitive’ way to arrive at an exact biological age of a person, unlike his calendar age, which is just a question of mathematics. Biological age is based on the fact that aging occurs as a person gradually accumulates damage to various cells and tissues in the body. It is also referred to as ‘functional’ age. Lifestyle and nutrition as a major impact on our biological age.
The way of Sri Anand Yoga has a major impact on improving our biological way. The Playful Engagement with Life is a key process which dramatically improves our energy and enthusiasm and balance and vitality which in turn results in being younger biologically.
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