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You know the saying: you’re only as old as you feel. Turns out there may be more to that cliche than meets the eye: researchers at California’s Buck Institute for Age think they’ve found a way to determine a person’s “real age” by looking at DNA clues called biomarkers. Which would go a long way to helping explain why some people seem to grow old before their time, and some octogenarians seem as healthy as 60-year-olds.
The speed at which people age depends on a number of factors including genetic inheritance, lifestyle and mental health. Determining chronological age in both worms and humans is easy – count forward from birth. But determining physiological age has remained subjective – [thus far] — based on how someone looks or functions. [link]
It’s easy enough to determine the physical-vs-chronological age of a worm, it seems — whose lifespan is about three weeks — and considerably more challenging to do so with humans. But this research marks a major step forward — and success could give science a hard-and-fast way to verify the effectiveness of anti-aging therapies, which hasn’t yet been possible, and to scare the crap out of 30-year-olds by telling them they have the body of a 50-year-old, and so on. I suspect that in the end, the research will verify what we already know to be true: those who eat right and exercise live longer than those who don’t.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’d want to know how old I “really” am. It’s a little too close to someone telling me when I’m going to die! How about you?
I’ve always felt younger than I actually am. I have to take a second to think about it. I’ll be 27 in a couple of months but feel like 23 or 24.
posted by Sunflower on 11-21-2008 at 12:05 pm
@Sunflower - puh-leese. I have shoes older than you.
posted by bzzyb on 11-21-2008 at 1:44 pm
I’m going to be 40 next year, so this is a pretty timely topic for me. I feel a lot younger (and think I look younger) than 40. People who first meet me usually guess 6-10 years younger than I really am. I exercise regularly and eat pretty well. So I think I’m pretty healthy, too.
If my life is being shortened by something I could change, I think I’d like to know. But if it’s out of my control, I think I’d rather be in the dark.
posted by Bre on 11-21-2008 at 1:45 pm
Well I definitely feel older first thing in the morning when it is hard to get moving especially if I have to go downstairs right away.
Once I get showered and go I act much younger.
When I have had a few beers I feel like a spritely 22 year old.
posted by bucsfan on 11-21-2008 at 1:47 pm
I am very fortunate. I look much younger than I am. I am 32 years old and I still get carded for buying lottery tickets.
posted by lmborgmeyer on 11-21-2008 at 1:53 pm
I feel great at 46. But man I wish I could go back to 40. I thought I was so old at 40, but I wouldn’t worry at all about my age if I was only 40.
Take care of your skin. Exercise and eating right are no good if your skin looks old.
posted by Morris on 11-21-2008 at 1:54 pm
I’m 24 and physically, I feel like my age (although a bit out of shape…), but I know I don’t look it…I’m constantly mistaken for younger, and if my genetics have much say, I imagine that trend will continue. I have been frequently told, however, that I’m an old soul. I’m not sure that knitting and crocheting and listening to the Beatles necessarily make that true, but that’s what I’ve been told :)
posted by Fruppi on 11-21-2008 at 3:06 pm
I’ll be 25 in January and I still get IDed in bars (here in Canada the age limit is 19, not 21)
posted by Laura on 11-21-2008 at 3:15 pm
Well, I should say, in Ontario, it’s lower in other provinces…
posted by laura on 11-21-2008 at 3:16 pm
My question is how do you know if you feel younger than what you are? You don’t know how other people feel that are the same age as you. Also someone who can’t keep up you that is the same age can be due to just flat out not taking care of themselves and not due to their age. So I would say that I feel healthy :-)
posted by Des on 11-21-2008 at 3:28 pm
I recently used my friends Wii to determine my Wii age.
As a young(ish) man, I would’ve figured that I would be pretty close to my actual age. When it turned out that my Wii age is a couple decades older than my real age, it was quite the kick in the rear.
I’ll be turning 25 soon, and I feel a bit older than that. I guess a few factors that contribute would be a handful of bad habits that I’ve held onto from my college years (smoking, drinking, etc). BUT, recent actions (limit the bad intake, exercise, etc) have done their part to make me feel my age.
reCaptcha -Hibbert regularly … as in I should go see Dr. Hibbert on a regular basis.
posted by Michael on 11-21-2008 at 3:41 pm
I’m almost 25 and every time I don’t get carded for alcohol or cigarettes (when I still drank/smoked - I quit both 8 months ago, woo!), I just assume that the cashier is not doing their job by neglecting to ask everyone who appears under 30 years old to see an ID. Clearly that cashier is lazy. There’s no way I look older than 30. Possibly I am in denial, but even if I do look older than my years, at least I’m on the right track by quitting smoking, etc. and getting myself healthy.
posted by Christine on 11-21-2008 at 4:04 pm
Well, according to Wii I a 28. When someone asks my age I almost say 42 because that is what my brain wants to say. According to my birth certificate (which was chiseled out of rock) I am 57. Weird, huh?
posted by jdocmartin on 11-21-2008 at 4:56 pm
I’ve always felt older than I am - mainly because I’ve been put ahead a year at school, so all my friends are almost a year older than me, but also because I have a lot of older cousins.
I’m almost 18 but feel - and have passed for 21/22
posted by Cait on 11-21-2008 at 6:17 pm
that looks like a picture of jim hill!! love–
posted by lulu on 11-22-2008 at 7:39 am
My 50-something but very active father looks younger than my three-years-younger but not as active mother. Despite the fact that he’s old enough for some senoir discounts, he says he doesn’t plan to retire. The filial daughter in me wants to convince him otherwise.
As for me, I don’t feel as if I’ve changed much since reaching 15. This creates a strange feeling dissonance now that I’m in college, pretending to be an adult.
posted by No One on 11-23-2008 at 3:17 pm