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🇵🇰 Pakistan /Health & Science

Study finds men and women follow different aging timelines

From The Express Tribune · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Context piece
  • A Chinese study of more than 104,000 adults found that men and women experience major metabolic changes at different stages of life.
  • Men showed a key shift between ages 35 and 45, while women experienced a later change between 55 and 65, around menopause.
  • The researchers said reducing metabolic stress through diet or blood-glucose control could help slow biological aging.

Men and women appear to follow different aging timelines, according to a Chinese study that analyzed routine health measurements from more than 104,000 adults aged 18 to 98.

Researchers from the China National Center for Bioinformation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University and other institutions examined 172 measures, including weight, cholesterol and blood sugar. They used the data to build “aging clocks” showing when the body undergoes its most significant changes.

For men, the main turning point came between ages 35 and 45. During that period, body mass index, triglycerides and cholesterol rose as metabolism changed. For women, the major shift occurred later, between 55 and 65, around menopause, when hormonal changes coincided with increases in fat and cholesterol. The physical differences between men and women nevertheless tended to narrow with age.

The study also linked the accumulation of glucose, lipids, uric acid and the tumor-related markers CEA and HE4 to faster biological aging. In laboratory tests, exposing human blood-vessel cells to higher levels of these substances produced signs of cellular senescence, suggesting they may contribute to aging rather than simply indicate it.

Some findings pointed to possible ways to reduce the effect. The diabetes drug metformin protected cells from damage associated with high glucose levels, while mice moved from a high-fat diet to a normal diet showed improvements in liver aging. “This suggests that lowering metabolic stress, by improving diet or controlling blood glucose, could be a potential strategy to slow down ageing,” said Xiong Muzhao of the China National Center for Bioinformation. Researcher Li Jiaming said the findings also supported sex-specific assessment and intervention throughout life.

This suggests that lowering metabolic stress, by improving diet or controlling blood glucose, could be a potential strategy to slow down ageing.

· Xiong MuzhaoThe China National Center for Bioinformation researcher discussed the study’s findings on metabolic stress and aging.
About this summary

Originally published by The Express Tribune in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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