Tuesday 7 July 2015

An Age Old Question


A study, conducted in New Zealand, has suggested that humans age at different speeds (http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/06/old-before-your-time-people-age-at-wildly-different-rates-study-confirms). Basically 1000 people were followed in their early and later 30's and measured on factors such as kidney efficiency, liver function, cardiovascular measures and lengths of chromosomal telomeres. It was found that people sometimes showed values that appeared to be those of a much younger or older individual. Interestingly, subjects that were 'physiologically older' than their chronological age were also poorer at tasks normally given to people in their 60's. People also guessed, on the basis of appearance, that they were older than was confirmed by their birth certificates. It remains, of course, to be determined whether some people's rate of ageing is determined by their genes or by life-style (or probably by a combination of these factors).

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