The point in life when we begin to age more rapidly has been identified, and it marks a significant moment.
While everyone is aware that ageing happens, the specific time when the process speeds up and noticeable signs appear is less commonly known.
Signs of ageing such as wrinkles and sagging skin eventually affect us all. Although one might suspect that adulthood, particularly parenthood, triggers this acceleration, scientific evidence suggests otherwise.
New research indicates that the ageing process can commence as early as age 30, with an acceleration occurring not long after.
This finding comes from researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who collected tissue samples from 76 individuals of Chinese descent, examining various major organ systems.
The participants, aged between 14 and 68, had died due to accidental brain injuries.
In their study, the researchers focused on blood vessels, which were found to age more quickly than other body parts.
They identified proteins that contribute to this accelerated ageing, noting significant changes in protein levels in individuals aged between 45 and 55.
Nevertheless, some samples displayed the beginnings of the ageing process around the age of 30.
This shift was predominantly observed in the heart’s aorta, as blood vessels seem to transport age-accelerating proteins throughout the body, a process linked to the adrenal gland.
Located atop the kidneys, the adrenal gland releases hormones that regulate bodily functions. The study found that in older adults, there was an increase in proteins associated with disease.
While this research pinpoints when our bodies begin to show signs of ageing, it is at age 50 that such changes peak before progressively declining.
Maja Olecka, an ageing researcher at the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute in Jena, Germany, who was not involved in the study, commented on these findings to Nature.
“There are these waves of age-related changes,” she remarked. “But it is still difficult to make a general conclusion about the timing of the inflection points.”
This recent study adds weight to prior research that identified two distinct periods in life when ageing accelerates.
In the 2024 study, 108 individuals aged 25 to 75 from California were examined. It analyzed about 135,000 molecules and microbes, noting that shifts were more pronounced in two age groups.
Professor Michael Snyder, a geneticist and director of the Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine at Stanford University, and senior author of the 2024 study, stated: “It fits the idea that your hormonal and metabolic control are a big deal.
“That is where some of the most profound shifts occur as people age.”