The more accurate measures of biological age become, the better we can optimize our health! Researchers at Columbia University have recently created a blood test, called DunedinPACE, to measure biological aging. Compared to other tests which measure how old or young a person is, DunedinPACE measures the rate at which an individual is aging.

Study Summary

DunedinPACE was created by tracking a group of 1000 people from birth and monitoring change in 19 biomarkers related to organ integrity overtime. Using DunedinPACE, researchers concluded:

• DunedinPACE is as precise as top-of-the-line biological aging tests in predicting disease, disability, and death.
• Middle-aged and older adults with a faster DunedinPACE have an increased risk for chronic disease, disability and death.
• DunedinPACE rate was also faster in young adults with a past history of poverty and childhood adversity – suggesting that life experience can speed up the aging processes.

The Hearty Take

At Hearty, we believe this design could make DunedinPACE a more sensitive tool to detect effects of interventions that aim to slow aging and of exposures that accelerate the aging processes. All in all, DunedinPACE represents a new way to measure the rate of biological aging to complement existing biological aging tests.