Unraveling the Aging Process

A team of scientists from the University of Edinburgh and the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Aging in Germany, have uncovered a link between high iron levels in the blood and the aging process. Their findings revealed that having high amounts of iron in the blood was linked to age-related conditions like Parkinson’s and liver disease, and made it harder for the body to fight infections. The bottom line: maintaining healthy levels of iron in the blood could be key to aging better and living longer.

Myth Buster…A recent study concluded that one “dog year” does not equal seven “human years,” and that the relationship between dog years and human years is not linear, but is based on a logarithmic formula. Age in human years = 16 * ln (age in dog years) +31. (ln means “natural logarithm). This formula was derived from the concept of the epigenetic clock, or the aging of the DNA in one’s genes, as a determinant of biologic aging.

Based on logarithmic curves, younger dogs age relatively “faster,” meaning that a one-year-old dog is equivalent to approximately 30 years in human years, but later in a dog’s life, the relative canine aging compared to human years slows. With that, a 4-year-old dog is more like a 52-year-old human (as opposed to a 28-year-old) but a 9-year-old dog is closer to 66 years in human years, and a 10- or 12-year-old dog levels out at about 70 human years.

Learn More:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/scientists-discover-slowing-down-ageing-process-104211648.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2020/07/11/the-answer-to-anti-aging-therapies-may-lie-in-your-aging-dog/#70beaacc5244