Do we all have bodies with differing biological and chronological ages?
'You have a certain chronological age, but your body can actually be younger or older depending on how much you move, how much you eat, and how healthy your lifestyle is. We see significant divergence in age after sixty years old. At that age, there can be a big difference between very active older adults, who are still young and fit, and those with more health problems. From about your 50s, you should really start making an effort to keep your biological age as low as possible, by staying active and not overeating.'
How do you determine the 'real' age?
'We do this through physical measurements, such as a cycling test, handgrip strength tests to assess the strength of someone's forearms, and by measuring someone's fat and muscle mass. Once we have an idea of these factors, we can then design interventions to optimize biological age. If you're curious about your biological age, you can visit us during the Déjà VU Festival.'
Can certain body parts or organs age differently than the rest of the body?
'We indeed think that different organs can age at different rates. So, people who smoke might have very aged lung function and those who are very overweight might have more problems with their liver. But also positively, people who eat less may have a younger pancreas age, whereas the intestinal or liver function of someone who consumes a lot of fat could be alarmingly worse.'
You previously conducted research on the lingering effects of long COVID on the body. Can we say anything about the biological age of these patients?
'We see that some long COVID patients already exhibit at age 20 the physical characteristics of a 70-year-old in their muscles. This does not mean their cells and DNA are equally old, or that they only have a few years left to live, but rather that their muscles behave similarly. While you would advise the average person to increase muscle strength with exercise, we see that these patients actually feel worse with exertion. This discovery was a huge recognition for many patients, but we still have a long way to go to solve it.'
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