"How old are you? What do you say you have? Not look it!". Few compliments are more satisfying for many of those who are realizing how far away their date of birth is beginning to be. In large part, due to social pressure to always look young and standards that are difficult for everyone to achieve. Mainly because people are affected differently by the passage of time. Something that is due to biological age, which can also be quite useful to know what state of health the body is in.
Aging is a natural process, which brings certain anatomical and physiological changes determined by a whole series of factors. From genetic or hormonal, to others related to lifestyle, socioeconomic context or psychological conditions. All of them lead to what is known as a person's biological age, which does not always correspond, for better or worse, with chronological age.
Chronological age is that which is determined by the calendar, as explained by Dr. Joan S. Fuster. That is, it measures the time period that elapses from the birth of an individual to the present moment. Therefore, it only represents time, it is something objective linked to this concept. However, not everyone is affected in the same way.
On the other hand, biological age symbolizes aging, or in other words, how the body's molecules are being affected by this passage of time. Something that translates into the advancement of its deterioration, which is, after all, what aging is all about. Depending on the state of the organs and tissues, two people of the same chronological age could have very different biological ages. That is, looking younger, adjusting to your age or looking older.
Biological age is not about whether someone has more or fewer wrinkles, an aesthetic factor. But in how healthy the skin is, how well the organs function, the mobility that the individual has, among other factors. When we talk about how young or old the body is, what we are referring to is the degree of deterioration of its molecules. Since this is linked to the greater or lesser risks to your health that you will have to face.
Research published in the journal Nature indicates that a higher biological age, according to what would correspond to chronological age, is associated with an increased risk of suffering from diseases. It is even linked to an increase of between 20 and 50% in the risk of mortality. For example, people with an aging heart have a 250% risk of heart failure.
