Researchers Say Younger Generations May Be Aging Faster Than Their Parents Did

New research suggests some younger adults may be biologically older than their actual age, with poor sleep and other lifestyle factors potentially increasing the risk of early-onset diseases, including certain cancers. AlessandroBiascioli/Shutterstock

Separate studies, one at Washington University School of Medicine (WashU Med), St. Louis, MO, and one at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia), New York, NY, indicate that young adults are aging faster than previous generations. That makes them more vulnerable to a wide range of serious diseases, such as cancer.

The WashU study appears in Nature Medicine, while Nature published the Columbia study.

Ticking Biological Clocks

Both studies used biological clocks, biomarkers of aging, that analyze patterns of tiny chemical tags called epigenetic marks across a person’s genome to measure the gap between chronological and biological age.

Your genome is “the entire set of DNA instructions found in a cell,” according to the National Institute of Health. It contains all the information needed for your body to grow and function.

The biological clock, also known as the epigenetic clock or Horvath’s Clock, is an algorithm developed by UCLA’s Steve Horvath, PhD., ScD. It measures 353 markers that change with age.

Link Between Sleep and Accelerated Aging

While the WashU study did not focus on causes of accelerated aging, the Columbia study did. It analyzed biological clocks throughout the bodies of research subjects. The results suggest that too much or too little sleep may speed aging in the brain, organs, and the immune system. In turn, the WashU study found that this advanced aging process links to a wide range of diseases, such as cancer.

“Previous studies have found that sleep is largely linked to aging and the pathological burden of the brain,” says study leader Junhao Wen, PhD, assistant professor of radiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “Our study goes further and shows that too little and too much sleep are associated with faster aging in nearly every organ, supporting the idea that sleep is important in maintaining organ health within a coordinated brain-body network, including metabolic balance and a healthy immune system.”

What Is The Best Amount Of Sleep?

Wen drew on a broad range of biological data, including medical images, organ-specific proteins, and molecules, to analyze the relationship between sleep duration and biological age. He found that people who sleep 6.4 to 7.8 hours per day show the least signs of aging. In contrast, sleeping less than six or more than eight hours accelerated aging.

The Columbia study does not contend that sleep duration alone causes organs to age faster or slower. Rather, it contends that too much or too little sleep may be a feature of poor overall health.

Accelerated Aging And Early-onset Cancer

WashU researchers found that the greater the gap between biological and chronological age, the greater the risk of cancer. They also determined that accelerated aging in specific biological systems increased the risk of specific cancers. In the immune system, that means a greater risk of early-onset lung cancer. Likewise, fat tissue that exhibits signs of accelerated aging is linked to early-onset colorectal cancer.

“Our ultimate goal is to decode how modern environments become biologically embedded to drive cancer risk, transforming prevention from broad recommendations to personalized interventions,” said Yin Cao, ScD, a molecular epidemiologist and an associate professor of surgery and of medicine at WashU Medicine. “This brings us closer to identifying risk earlier and developing prevention strategies that are tailored to an individual’s biology.”

More People Getting Cancer Younger

Between 1990 and 2019, incidents of early-onset (people under 50) cancer increased worldwide by 79.1%, according to BMJ. In the U.S., the increase has been 8.5% since 2000, according to the National Institute of Health.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) notes that the rise in cancers is particularly significant in young adults and women. Cancer “rates in women under 50 are now 82% higher than their male counterparts, up from 51% in 2002,” according to the ACS.

“Cancer is often a disease of accumulated cellular damage. Normally that damage builds slowly over decades, which is why these solid tumors were historically diseases of individuals who are over 60 years old,” explains Egle Pavyde, PhD in Regenerative Medicine at Biomapas. “If your body is biologically older than your chronological age, you’re essentially reaching that damage threshold sooner. Add chronic inflammation, which creates a great environment for a tumor to grow, and you can see why cases are appearing before 55.”

A Piece Of A Bigger Puzzle

“We don’t have a definitive answer to what’s driving the rise of early-onset cancers around the world, but studies like this are helping us piece together the bigger picture, showing that cancer may be influenced not just by changes inside individual cells, but by wider changes happening across the body as a whole,” said David Scott, PhD, director of Cancer Grand Challenges.

“If we can identify younger people with the highest cancer risk when they are still healthy, we can focus on prevention and early-detection strategies for the individuals who will benefit most from early interventions,” Cao said.

Participants in the WashU study with the most advanced systemic aging had a 15% increased risk of early-onset solid cancer compared with those with the least advanced systemic aging.

Why Aren’t We Sleeping Better?

Physicians contacted by Saving Advice agreed that lifestyle changes, including better sleep, can close the gap between biological and chronological aging.

Jagdish Khubchandani, MBBS, PhD, professor of public health at New Mexico State University, has noted the relationship between stress and accelerated aging.

His 2019 study on sleep duration found that “overall, the prevalence of short sleep duration in working American adults increased significantly from 2010 to 2018 (30.9% in 2010 to 35.6% in 2018).” He concluded that “Almost a third of working adults in the U.S. get inadequate quantities of sleep. Most likely, those who work long hours, engage in changing shifts, or those in high-stress professions.”

At the same time, he is quick to caution against excluding other factors that may contribute to accelerated aging.

“As I state in my work, aging is complex, not fully understood, and influenced by numerous social, environmental, and biobehavioral factors,” Dr. Khubchandani told Saving Advice.

We Are What We Eat

Dr. Angi Sadeghi, MD, gastroenterologist and founder of the Institute of Plant-Based Medicine (IOPBM), sees diet as the cause of many health problems, including poor sleep.

“Food, what you eat, is one of the most important things to either help prevent premature aging or expedite aging,” Dr. Sadeghi told Saving Advice.

“So, if you eat a high-fiber diet, lots of fruits and vegetables like the Mediterranean diet, the telomere size increases with a plant-based diet and reduces inflammation, which is one of the best things you can do to prevent premature aging,” says Dr. Sadeghi.

Telomeres are protective DNA sequences that keep chromosomes from being worn. Over time, they shorten, leading cells to die or stop dividing.

Dr. Sadeghi sees what she calls “an epidemic of obesity” as a contributing factor in sleep-related health issues.

“Obesity can give you sleep disturbances, too,” she notes. “I have never seen so many obese patients, and I think the epidemic of obesity is causing an increase in all cancer risks.”

You Are In Charge

Lifestyle has the greatest impact on biological age, according to the authorities we interviewed.

“Above all, irrespective of whether we roll out testing or do more research on aging, why cannot we just go back to basics?” asks Dr. Khubchandani. He maintains that a 1965 study, which researchers dubbed the Alameda 7, lays out the daily habits people need to live longer, healthier lives.

The Alameda 7 are:

Never smoke cigarettes
Drink moderately (less than five drinks at one sitting)
Sleep 7 to 8 hours per night
Exercise regularly
Maintain a desirable weight for your height
Eat breakfast regularly
Avoid snacking and eat a good diet

“Unlike the chronological age written in our passports, biological age has some wiggle room,” Dr. Pavyde told Saving Advice. “Studies have shown measurable improvements in these markers from simple lifestyle changes: healthy diet, regular movement, proper sleep, cutting alcohol, smoking cessation, managing stress. You can’t rewind the clock entirely, but you can slow it and turn back a little. That is the most important part of this story, and the part I’d want readers to put in their heads. No advertised longevity procedures or supplements will do more than your daily life choices will.