How to look younger than you are: biomarkers – which to track and how to step in if needed
- Biomarkers are indexes in the body that scientists agree quantify ageing and tell us how far away disease is
- There are dozens of biomarkers that can be tracked, and measures can be taken if they go off course. We look at some of the most important ones
Sitting in the waiting room at the Hong Kong Immigration Department’s Smart ID Card Replacement Centre in Wan Chai, I’m struck by the fact that everyone in the room is born within the same couple of years – and yet we all look so different.
Some people have worn the years well; I’d never guess we were the same age. And others look much older. So what’s going on? Why do some people look old before their time and others succeed in keeping a youthful appearance?
Genes play a part, of course, but lifestyle is critical. We begin ageing the minute we are born, and the pace of ageing picks up soon after we turn 20. Critically, if your biological age – how old you seem – starts increasing faster than your chronological age – how old you actually are – then the effect snowballs and the pace of ageing quickens.
But there is good news: you can reverse some of the effects if you have an understanding of “biomarkers” – indexes in the body that scientists agree quantify ageing and tell us how far away disease is – and take steps to limit them.
Anti-ageing expert Dr Lauren Bramley, whose clinic is in Hong Kong’s Central district, is a regular at anti-ageing conferences as both a speaker and participant, and has done a TEDx talk on biomarkers.