A Purposeful Life: The Secret to Slower Biological Aging?
The journey to longevity may be less about the ticking of the clock and more about the purpose in our hearts. Epigenetic aging, a process that involves changes to the activity of our DNA over time, has been linked to various psychosocial risk factors. However, it appears that having a high sense of purpose in life might actually slow down this process.
In a group of older adults, researchers found that those with a high sense of purpose showed reduced epigenetic age acceleration. This was measured using 13 DNA methylation "epigenetic clocks". DNA methylation is a biological process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule, which can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing its sequence. It's like a clock that's ticking inside every cell in your body, and it can speed up or slow down depending on various factors.
Interestingly, the association between purpose in life and reduced epigenetic age acceleration was found to be independent of demographic and psychosocial factors. However, it was somewhat reduced after adjusting for health-related behaviors like drinking, smoking, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). This suggests that having a purpose in life might lead to healthier behaviors, which in turn could slow down the biological aging process.
Article Information
Reduced Epigenetic Age in Older Adults With High Sense of Purpose in Life
Published on J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci.Eric S Kim et al.
Abstract
Psychosocial risk factors have been linked with accelerated epigenetic aging, but little is known about whether psychosocial resilience factors (eg, Sense of Purpose in Life) might reduce epigenetic age acceleration. In this study, we tested if older adults who experience high levels of Purpose might show reduced epigenetic age acceleration. We evaluated the relationship between Purpose and epigenetic age acceleration as measured by 13 DNA methylation (DNAm) "epigenetic clocks" assessed in 1 572 older adults from the Health and Retirement Study (mean age 70 years). We quantified the total association between Purpose and DNAm age acceleration as well as the extent to which that total association might be attributable to demographic factors, chronic disease, other psychosocial variables (eg, positive affect), and health-related behaviors (heavy drinking, smoking, physical activity, and body mass index [BMI]). Purpose in Life was associated with reduced epigenetic age acceleration across 4 "second-generation" DNAm clocks optimized for predicting health and longevity (false discovery rate [FDR] q < 0.0001: PhenoAge, GrimAge, Zhang epigenetic mortality index; FDR q < 0.05: DunedinPoAm). These associations were independent of demographic and psychosocial factors, but substantially attenuated after adjusting for health-related behaviors (drinking, smoking, physical activity, and BMI). Purpose showed no significant association with 9 "first-generation" DNAm epigenetic clocks trained on chronological age. Older adults with greater Purpose in Life show "younger" DNAm epigenetic age acceleration. These results may be due in part to associated differences in health-related behaviors. Results suggest new opportunities to reduce biological age acceleration by enhancing Purpose and its behavioral sequelae in late adulthood.
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