Being Sad and Lonely Accelerates Aging More Than Smoking

Deep Longevity has bridged the gap between the concepts of biological and psychological aging. According to the new aging clock, vulnerable mental health has a stronger effect on the pace of aging compared to a number of health conditions and smoking.

As we age, molecular damage accumulates and contributes to the development of aging-related frailty and serious diseases. These molecular processes are more intense in some people than in others, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as accelerated aging.

Fortunately, it is possible to detect the increased pace of aging before its disastrous consequences manifest by using digital models of aging (aging clocks). These models can also be used to derive anti-aging therapies at individual and population levels.

Research confirms: Psychological issues can accelerate your pace of aging. Credit: Fedor Galkin

 

According to the latest article published in the journal Aging-US, any anti-aging therapy needs to focus on one’s mental health as much as one’s physical health. An international collaboration led by Deep Longevity with US and Chinese scientists has measured the effects of being lonely, feeling unhappy, or having restless sleep on the pace of aging and discovered it to be substantial.

A new aging clock trained and verified with blood and biometric data of 11,914 Chinese adults is featured in the scientific paper. This is the first aging clock to be trained exclusively on a Chinese cohort of such volume.

AI to connect psychological and biological aging. Credit: Fedor Galkin

 

Aging acceleration was detected in people with a history of stroke, liver and lung diseases, smokers, and most intriguingly, people in a vulnerable mental state. In fact, feeling unhappy, hopeless, and lonely was demonstrated to increase one’s biological age more than smoking. Living in a rural area (due to the low availability of medical services) and being single are two additional factors associated with an accelerated aging process.

Therefore, the authors of the paper conclude that the psychological aspect of aging should not be overlooked either in research or in practical anti-aging applications. According to Manuel Faria from Stanford University:

“Mental and psychosocial states are some of the most robust predictors of health outcomes — and quality of life — yet they have largely been omitted from modern healthcare.”

Alex Zhavoronkov, the CEO of Insilico Medicine, points out that the study provides a course of action to “slow down or even reverse psychological aging on a national scale.”

Earlier this year, Deep Longevity released FuturSelf.AI, an AI-guided mental health web service, that is based on a preceding publication in the journal Aging-US. The service offers a free psychological assessment that is processed by an artificial intelligence algorithm and provides a thorough report on a user’s psychological age as well as current and future mental well-being. Deepankar Nayak, the CEO of Deep longevity affirms,

“FuturSelf.AI, in combination with the study of older Chinese adults, positions Deep Longevity at the forefront of biogerontological research.”

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