Which Test for Biological Age is Right for You?

Biological Aging is the process of your cells slowly losing their ability to function properly. Many studies show that although aging is unavoidable, we can slow down the rate of aging and delay the development of diseases. The first step is to accurately determine how old we are e.g. our biological age, and how fast we are aging. This post will cover which test for biological age is the right for you and your budget.

There is no single factor and no guarantee that healthy living will improve your biological age or change the rate at which your biological age will change. Your biological age is more likely to be close to chronological when you are young. But when you are in your 50 or 60, there’s a potential for a wider spread. Your biological age can change over time. This can be due to a variety of factors, such as lifestyle changes, environment, and longevity treatments. How do you know if your efforts are worth it? You can test for biological age. As your chronological age increases, your biological age should remain “younger.” Ideally, the gap between your chronological and biological age will grow over time.

Knowing your biological age is a big step in understanding the entirety of your health profile. But the second aspect is equally important: tracking your biological age. Because biological age can shift, seeing changes over time is vital to understanding what is good and bad for your health. You can slow your biological aging by diet, managing stress, sleep, exercise, and cultivating healthy relationships.

Telomeres
Telomeres play a big role in keeping our chromosomes and bodies healthy even though they make up only a tiny fraction of our total DNA. In Greek “Telo” means “end” while “mere” means “part.” Telomeres cap both ends of all 46 chromosomes in each cell and protect chromosomes from losing genetic material. Telomeres are sections of DNA at the end of chromosomes that cap genetic material and serve as protective buffers that prevent chromosomes from becoming attached to each other or rearranging. They are often compared to the caps at the ends of shoelaces. Every time a cell replicates, its telomere gets shorter, eventually causing cell death once the telomere attrition has reached its maximum. Measuring telomere length in human lymphocytes is an indicator of cellular aging, and research demonstrates that shortened telomeres are responsible for many of the normal processes of aging.
Telomeres are often compared to the plastic tips at the ends of shoelaces that prevent fraying. Certain chemicals and substances from the environment and metabolism damage telomeres and affect their lengths and function. Damaged telomeres affect the health of our cells and genome. The idea of offering telomere length as part of a genetic test is intriguing since telomeres protect our genetic material. Telomere testing is the most scientifically established method to determine biological age. After taking a blood sample, a telomere score is calculated based on your average telomere length in peripheral whole blood cells. Then, the average is compared to telomere lengths from a population sample in your same age range. Several labs, like RepeatDx, LifeLength, and SpectraCell offer telomeres length tests but require prescribing physicians. A few providers also offer direct access (direct-to consumers) telomeres length tests.

Epigenome and DNA methylation
Your genome or your complete DNA holds the instructions for building the proteins that carry out a variety of functions in your cells. Your epigenome is based on chemical compounds that attach to your DNA. Epigenetics is the study of how the body adds and removes chemical “tags” to our DNA, to turn specific genes on or off. These tags record events that happen in your life–diseases, lifestyle, diet, and environmental conditions. When epigenetic compounds attach to DNA, they are said to have "marked" the genome. These marks do not change the sequence of the DNA, but they do change the way cells read the DNA's instructions. DNA methylation is one type of the Epigenome, and it can be identified and tracked as a sign of diseases like cancer and aging in different parts of the genome. Some regions in the DNA see an increase in methylation with age, while other regions see a decrease. If, for example, 60% of cells from a sample show DNA methylation at one location of the genome, it can match that percentage with a specific chronological or biological age.

Glycans
Glycans are sugar molecules that surround and modify proteins in your body. Glycans can indicate the inflammatory state of your immune system, which in turn determines your biological age. While DNA is the storage database, proteins run “jobs” and lipids are involved in building compartments, Glycan acts as the body’s communication protocol. Glycans greatly influence your unique biology and as we age, the balance of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory glycans in our body changes. Studies show that you can determine your biological age by looking at the state of the glycans in your immune system. The analysis of the glycans attached to the most common antibody in your blood, called Immunoglobulin G or IgG can tell the function of IgG from pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory and vice versa. The GlycanAge test is the only biological age test sensitive to short-term changes and therefore can detect your improvement after changing your diet or behavior.

Which Test for Biological Age is Right for You?

Conclusion
A test for biological age is a better predictor of your physical age than your chronological age. Biological Age is a detailed assessment of your body's internal age at the cellular level and helps you focus on the internal systems or organs that are aging at a faster rate. There are several different methods to measure and calculate your biological age. Telomere length is the most established method but new studies show that DNA methylation at certain locations in your genome can predict your cell longevity. Glycan analysis of your immune system is another approach. Finally, a multi-omics approach that tries to combine several methods is also available. 

How old are you?