Latest news with #Stanford University
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Your organs have their own age – and it may predict health risks better than your birthday
If you've always thought your birthday was the best way to define how old you are, think again. Your organs, it turns out, are aging on their own schedules. A growing body of scientific research is shifting focus from chronological age to biological age, where your body's roughly 30 trillion cells, tissues and organs each have their own 'clocks' that can tick at different speeds. According to a groundbreaking peer-reviewed study published last week in Nature Medicine, Stanford University researchers found that an organ that is substantially 'older' than a person's actual age is at greater risk of disease. Researchers tracked this hidden timeline by analyzing thousands of proteins flowing through our blood. The body's cells, tissues and organs all have different 'clocks' ticking at different speeds (Getty Images) 'With this indicator, we can assess the age of an organ today and predict the odds of your getting a disease associated with that organ 10 years late,' Tony Wyss-Coray, a professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the university's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, said in a statement. Take the brain, for example: an older one increases your risk of death by about 182 percent within the next 15 years, compared with people whose brains are aging normally, researchers found. On the flip side, those with brains biologically younger than their chronological age are believed to live longer. The study's authors concluded that having an older brain increased the risk of dementia threefold, while those with youthful brains have just a quarter of the usual risk. 'The brain is the gatekeeper of longevity,' Wyss-Coray said. 'If you've got an old brain, you have an increased likelihood of mortality.' An older biological heart age was linked to a higher risk of atrial fibrillation and heart failure, while aging lungs signaled an increased likelihood of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While your chronological age only goes up, the good news is that biological age can be slowed, paused or even reversed. Forty-year-old soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has an estimated biological age of just under 29, according to data from the health tech brand Whoop. Bryan Johnson has documented his journey to reverse his biological age to that of a teenager (Dustin Giallanza) Kim Kardashian may be blowing out 44 candles on her next birthday but her biological age came in nearly a decade younger, according to results from an epigenetic clock test taken on The Kardashians last year. Meanwhile, Bryan Johnson, 47, the anti-aging tech guru and 'biohacker,' has documented his bizarre journey in an attempt to reverse his biological age to that of a teenager. You don't need to be into biohacking to change your organ's age — they can shift depending on a variety of factors, including your genes, how much you move, what you eat, your sleep habits and how you manage stress. Regular exercise, good nutrition and avoiding harmful habits like smoking all contribute to younger organ age and better health outcomes, according to Stanford University's research. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
6 Causes Of Sleep Onset Insomnia, And What Sleep Doctors Say You Should Do About It
Insomnia is often used as a catch-all term to describe a whole slew of sleep problems. Trouble falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep, and waking up too early in the morning can all be described as insomnia. But what many people don't realize is that these sleep problems are different types of insomnia — and they don't always have the same causes. Sleep onset insomnia, also called initial insomnia, describes struggling to initially fall asleep. This is different from waking up too early in the morning (late insomnia) or waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall back asleep (middle, or maintenance, insomnia). 'Often, sleep onset insomnia is how maintenance insomnia begins,' said Dr. Rafael Pelayo, a sleep medicine doctor and clinical professor at Stanford University's Sleep Medicine division. Treating sleep onset insomnia can stop the domino effect. But it starts with knowing what causes it in the first place. What causes sleep onset insomnia? Typically, it should take between 10 and 20 minutes to fall asleep, according to Dr. Alex Dimitriu, a psychiatrist and sleep medicine doctor. But he added that it depends on what you were doing before you hit the lights. If you were reading in dim lighting, you're probably going to fall asleep faster than if you were scrolling your phone before trying to fall asleep, he said. 'Doing work or anything else stimulating is not good for sleep because your brain needs some space, silence and a chance to slow down. So, if you are doing anything overly exciting or stimulating, you will need longer to fall asleep and your sleep quality will be worse once you do,' he told HuffPost. The sleep doctors we talked to also point out that everyone has trouble falling asleep once in a while. But if you have trouble falling asleep at least three times a week for three months or longer, that's when you're considered to have sleep onset insomnia, according to Dr. Richard Schwab, chief of the Division of Sleep Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. What causes sleep onset insomnia? Below are the six most common causes, according to the doctors we talked to. 1. Stress If your mind starts to race as soon as your head hits the pillow, you (unfortunately) know firsthand how stress can keep you up at night. 'Stress, anxiety and depression are probably the biggest causes of sleep onset insomnia,' Schwab said. It isn't exactly easy to turn your thoughts off, and worrying about being able to fall asleep can make it worse. 'As soon as you start pressuring yourself to sleep, it becomes an issue,' Pelayo said. Soon, all you'll be able to focus on is the fact that you're still awake. 2. Not having an effective bedtime routine Remember how Dimitriu said that doing something stimulating before bed makes it harder to fall asleep? Dental sleep expert Dr. Stephen Carstensen told HuffPost that this is a major driver of sleep onset insomnia. Consistently going from a stimulating environment or activity to immediately trying to fall asleep just doesn't work for many people. 3. Exercising right before bed While the sleep doctors say that, in general, exercise is beneficial for sleep, Carstensen and Schwab both said exercising too late in the evening can lead to trouble falling asleep. 'Exercising late can be a problem because the rise in body temperature can cause a delay in the sleep cycle,' Carstensensaid. A rise in body temperature makes it harder to fall asleep because the body naturally cools down in the process of falling asleep. It's part of the reason having a room or bedding that's too warm can work against you. 4. Diet habits All four sleep experts said consuming caffeine too late in the day can make it harder to fall asleep. Consistently eating a large meal late at night or experiencing heartburn are other ways that diet can cause sleep onset insomnia. Regularly drinking alcohol in the evening can also mess with your sleep, all four sleep experts say, but it is more likely to cause maintenance insomnia (waking up in the middle of the night) than sleep onset insomnia. 5. Melatonin While Pelayo said melatonin can be helpful in certain situations, he explained that relying on it as a crutch to fall asleep can eventually backfire. If you try to sleep without it, you'll likely have trouble falling asleep because you've come to depend on it, psychologically. He said the same thing can happen if you rely on alcohol to fall asleep (which will cause you to wake up in the middle of the night anyway) or other sedatives. He explains that in each case, the melatonin, alcohol or sedatives are being used to mask the underlying problem instead of treating it. 'Instead of treating the issue, you're just blocking it out,' he said. In the long term, he emphasized, this just doesn't work. 6. Environmental factors Outside noise, a fussy infant, an overactive pet and a snoring partner are all examples of how environmental factors can prevent you from falling asleep. If they're consistent, the sleep experts say they can cause sleep onset insomnia. What's the solution? All four sleep experts emphasized that the key to solving sleep onset insomnia is treating the underlying cause. That means you first have to figure out what exactly is keeping you up. If the reason you can't fall asleep at night is that you're stressed or anxious, Schwab said it's important to have ways to manage it. 'For some people, it helps to get a bath or shower before bed as a way to relieve stress. Exercise is also helpful as long as it's not too late in the evening,' he said. Knowing how to effectively manage stress is key to getting good sleep. If you're relying on alcohol, a sedative or a sleep aid to fall asleep, talk to your health care provider about how you can safely transition away from depending on it. The transition may take time, but your sleep will benefit in the long run. It's worth it to consider ways your diet could be impacting your sleep. If you have no choice but to eat right before bedtime, try making your midday meal your biggest meal of the day and eating lighter at night. It can also be helpful to choose foods that are easy to digest, like soup. Dimitriu emphasized the importance of setting up your bedroom for sleep and having an evening routine that helps you wind down. 'Dimmed lights of sunset colors help, no blue light. Ideally, get in bed early and have an hour to read or hang with your partner, not your phone. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time,' he said. If you can't figure out the root cause of your sleep woes or don't know what to do about it, seeing a sleep doctor can help. Schwab said this is beneficial because a sleep doctor can come up with a plan that works specifically for you. He added that they can also make sure an underlying health condition isn't contributing to your sleep problems. As far as what to do in the moment, Pelayo's best piece of advice is to turn on a dim light and read a book until you start feeling sleepy and then try again to fall asleep. 'What's important to remember is that sleep will come. You will fall asleep eventually,' he said. Until then, try not to obsess about it too much — and definitely don't reach for your phone. Related... 'Orthosomnia' Might Be Ruining Your Sleep. Here's What You Should Know. These Lightweight, Reviewer-Loved Pajamas Won't Have You Sweating In Your Sleep Have Sleep Apnea Or Suspect You Do? These Pillows Might Help
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Your Brain's Youthfulness (or Lack of It) Could Predict How Long You Live
We celebrate our birthdays on the same day each year, but the truth is that different parts of our bodies are aging at different speeds. New research suggests brain age could be a strong predictor for lifespan. This comes from a team from Stanford University, who applied a blood analysis technique on records of 44,498 individuals in a UK health research database, aged between 40 and 70 years old. The analysis gave them an estimated biological age for 11 key organs in the body, including the brain. These organ ages were then compared against the health records of the participants, for up to 17 years. Generally, the more 'aged' organs a participant had, the higher their risk of dying within the follow-up period. Related: If one organ had to be chosen as the best single representative, it would be the brain: the data showed that people with a younger brain age tended to have a longer lifespan. "The brain is the gatekeeper of longevity," says neuroscientist Tony Wyss-Coray, from Stanford University. "If you've got an old brain, you have an increased likelihood of mortality. If you've got a young brain, you're probably going to live longer." The blood test used here works by measuring protein levels, and matching those proteins to the organs that produce them. Through some complex calculations, this indicates how well each organ is functioning – whether they're working more like a brand new, souped-up sports car, or a dilapidated old vehicle on the verge of collapse. As you might expect, the older an organ was – essentially, the more wear and tear indicated by its proteins – the more likely the chances of disease in that organ. The greater the number of 'elderly' organs, the greater the likelihood of disease or an early death. It was the brain stats that really stood out though. People with "extremely aged" brains (in the top 7 percent in terms of old age) were almost twice as likely to die over a 15-year period, compared to those whose biological brain ages were more in line with their chronological age. Those with "extremely youthful" brains had a 40 percent lower risk of dying within the study period. There were other interesting associations too: Alzheimer's disease was around 3.1 times more likely in extremely aged brains compared to normally aged brains. Extremely youthful brains, meanwhile, were 74 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's than those closer to chronological age. We know that a whole host of factors combine to increase or decrease our chances of dying or developing diseases, and previous studies have shown that poverty, obesity, and physical activity might all have an impact on brain aging. And brain aging is just one variable linked to lifespan – everything from how carefully you cross the road to your eating habits adds up to determine how long you're going to live, so we can't say brain aging is the direct cause here. What's more, there's likely to be two-way feedback here, with disease also contributing to organ aging. However, it's important to understand which variables can make the most difference, and to get as full a picture as possible of the contributors to disease and mortality, in order to maximize our chances of aging healthily. "This approach could lead to human experiments testing new longevity interventions for their effects on the biological ages of individual organs in individual people," says Wyss-Coray. "The cost will come down as we focus on fewer key organs, such as the brain, heart and immune system, to get more resolution and stronger links to specific diseases." The research has been published in Nature Medicine. This Foot Scan Could Stop Your Small Cut From Costing You a Limb Here's Why Weather Can Trigger Your Migraines, And How to Ease The Pain A Simple Daily Habit Could Help Lower Your Blood Pressure
