Summary
DNA methylation can predict your biological age within 4-5 years and forecast heart disease and cancer years before diagnosis. About 60% of your epigenetic aging rate is lifestyle-driven, not genetic. Diet, exercise, sleep, and maintaining healthy weight slow the clock, while obesity, sleep deprivation, and smoking accelerate it.
Key Points
- DNA methylation patterns at specific genome locations can predict chronological age within 4-5 years across any tissue type
- Approximately 40% of epigenetic aging rates are determined by heredity, while 60% are influenced by lifestyle and environment
- The DNAm GrimAge clock can predict time-to-death, coronary heart disease onset, and cancer development years before clinical diagnosis
- Diet, exercise, adequate sleep, education level, and maintaining healthy weight can slow epigenetic aging
- Obesity, sleep deprivation, and smoking accelerate epigenetic aging
- Yamanaka factors can reprogram cells to reset the epigenetic clock to a youthful state, suggesting potential therapeutic applications
- Transplanted blood cells retain the donor's epigenetic age rather than adopting the recipient's age
Key Moments
Methylation Support Discussion
This measurement may be more fundamental, more interesting than many other markers, because, as we'll discuss in a moment, it's predictive value. In this episode, we're going to talk about two generations of epigenetic clocks.
"This measurement may be more fundamental, more interesting than many other markers, because, as we'll discuss in a moment, it's predictive value. In this episode, we're going to talk about two generations of epigenetic clocks."
Epigenetic Aging: Clock
This is the last episode of 2020, and while 2020 has been a tough year, this episode is fantastic. Today's guest is Dr.
"Insurance companies do this every day when they look at actuarial tables in combination with other factors to give you a price on your life insurance plan."
Epigenetic Aging: Clock
As a biomarker, telomeres have the shortcoming that they are highly dependent on cell types, since telomer length is governed partly by artifacts of cellular division. They also behave differently between tissues and species.
"As a biomarker, telomeres have the shortcoming that they are highly dependent on cell types, since telomer length is governed partly by artifacts of cellular division. They also behave differently between tissues and species."
Methylation Support: How To
The reason why this is not yet a viable strategy is because people who get a transplant often get so-called graft versus host disease. It's a dangerous procedure, but in theory, it could work.
"So that's on some level a very exciting finding because it kind of hints to an idea that you could possibly rejuvenate people through transplantation."
Epigenetic Aging: Clock
A grim age is a pretty good predictor of time to coronary heart disease. Surprisingly, these clocks even predict time to cancer.
"However, it's of course not a perfect measure of chronologic age. There's always an error. For example, if I analyze the blood from a 50-year-old, the epigenetic clock may say, well, this person is actually 55 or 45. And so there's a small error."
Methylation Support Discussion
Then if you followed them for 60 years, you know, you would find this consistency that people who are slow agers at age 20, they also slow agers at age 60 or 80.
"Yes. So that's one line of evidence, but there's another. So people have these longitudinal epidemiological studies, and they may have collected a blood sample from a person when they were, let's say, 40 years old."
Epigenetic Aging: Clock
Then if you followed them for 60 years, you know, you would find this consistency that people who are slow agers at age 20, they also slow agers at age 60 or 80.
"And people sometimes ask me, what if you have a forensic sample, you know, so let's say a blood stain, you know, that was, let's say, in a room for a couple of weeks or even, let's say, a bone sample collected, you know, a couple of months later."
Alzheimer Prevention Discussion
A grim age is a pretty good predictor of time to coronary heart disease. Surprisingly, these clocks even predict time to cancer.
"And that resetting then has a benefit in terms of delaying risk for various diseases. And you mentioned heart disease. A grim age is a pretty good predictor of time to coronary heart disease. Surprisingly, these clocks even predict time to cancer."
Young Plasma Exchange Discussion
I had read a study, I think it was one of your really good reviews that you published, where you talked about bone marrow transplants.
"We just recently analyzed parabiosis mice, you know, it's unpublished. And we found two results. One corroborates things and one refutes it. But just to explain it, so we looked at cortex and also subventricular zone, deep white matter in the brain."
Time Restricted Eating: Fasting
Otherwise, I think my BMI would be 17 right now. There's an acquaintance of mine who runs a pretty popular aging blog.
"It's just happening. I'm trying to do this intermittent fasting, but I don't have much self-discipline."
Vitamin D: Supplementation
People are doing this stuff. It's just happening.
"But yeah, we will now analyze mice from the lab from joe takahashi who did various interventions and probably in a couple of weeks we will have some answers you know whether these strategies have a..."
Epigenetic Aging: Clock
They're interested in the opposite.
"But yeah, we will now analyze mice from the lab from joe takahashi who did various interventions and probably in a couple of weeks we will have some answers you know whether these strategies have a..."
Epigenetic Aging: Clock
Whereas these biomarkers such as an epigenetic clock is hopefully much closer to an innate aging process, you know. We don't want to, it's not my goal to reduce people's stress levels.
"Whereas these biomarkers such as an epigenetic clock is hopefully much closer to an innate aging process, you know."
Sleep Optimization: Rem
He runs the Human Sleep Center at UC Berkeley. I always hate these studies because I don't sleep well.
"And he just talked about all the, you know, basically various diseases and, you know, all-cause mortality and how everything just goes up when sleep quality goes down."
Cellular Senescence Discussion
He runs the Human Sleep Center at UC Berkeley. I always hate these studies because I don't sleep well.
"And so I certainly feel like... I always hate these studies because I don't sleep well. I like the studies where they study the so-called super sleepers, you know, who sleep only five hours a night and still are perfectly healthy."
