Urine test for detecting aging

Researchers find that a substance indicating oxidative damage increases in urine as people get older. Aging Neuroscience described a way to measure levels of this marker in human urine samples. The new marker potentially provides a method to measure how much human body has aged-biological rather than chronological age.

Everyone born in the same year has the same chronological age,  the bodies of different people age at different rates. This means that the risk of many diseases increases with age, the link between age in years and our health and lifespan is relatively loose. Many people enjoy long lives, relatively free of disease, while others suffer chronic illness and premature death.

The rate of cellular damage can vary from person to person, and may be dictated by genetics, lifestyle and the environment we live in. This cellular damage may be a more accurate indication of  biological age than the number of years. Measuring biological age could predict the risk of developing age-related diseases and death.

One mechanism thought to underlie biological aging involves a molecule vital to human survival- oxygen-the free radical theory of aging. Oxygen by-products produced during normal metabolism can cause oxidative damage to biomolecules in cells, such as DNA and RNA," explains Jian-Ping Cai, a researcher involved in the study. "As we age, we suffer increasing oxidative damage , and so the levels of oxidative markers increase in our body."

One such marker, with the catchy name of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine-or 8-oxoGsn for short-results from oxidation of a crucial molecule in our cells called RNA. In previous studies in animals, Cai and colleagues found that 8-oxoGsn levels increase in urine with age. To see if this is true for humans as well, the researchers measured 8-oxoGsn in urine samples from 1,228 Chinese residents aged 2-90 years old, using a rapid analysis technique called ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography. Age-dependent increase in urinary 8-oxoGsn in participants 21 years old and older."

Therefore, urinary 8-oxoGsn is promising as a new marker of aging. Levels of 8-oxoGsn were roughly the same between men and women, except in post-menopausal women, who showed higher levels. This may have been caused by the decrease in estrogen levels that happens during menopause, as estrogen is known to have anti-oxidant effects. Urinary 8-oxoGsn may reflect the real condition of human body better than chronological age, and may help us to predict the risk of age-related diseases.
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Drinking of alcohol makes you older

 Alcoholic patients had shortened telomere lengths, placing them at greater risk for age-related diseases, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, dementia and liver disease. The more alcohol people drink, the more their cells age.

Telomeres are parts of human cells that affect how cells age, the protein caps on the ends of human chromosomes are markers of aging and complete health.

Excess drinking of alcohol leads to lost of replication of cell tiny bit of telomere so they get shorter with age. But some people may have shorter telomeres for other reasons.

Alcoholic patients have a shortened telomere length because excess drinking causes biological aging at a cellular level.

Scientists examined patients undergoing alcoholism treatment in hospital, they also examined their habits, DNA samples and drinking histories

They discovered that they have thiamine deficiency TD and it causes neuron impairments such as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome which can leads to braid disorder, coma and death in alcoholic patients.

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Neurocognitive decline and HIV virus

Neurocognitive changes like memory loss, loss of verbal fluency, poor concentration and inability to absorb new information or make complex decisions are associated with aging.

 HIV patients are at the risk of neurocognitive decline, even when they are taking effective antiretroviral therapy and have an undetectable viral load.

 Researchers examined 191 HIV-positive adults, all with a controlled viral load.
They were monitored for three years, at six month intervals for neurocognitive function test.

The result shows different stages of neurocognitive functions
Normal- Normal mental function.
Subclinical- Minimal symptoms of cognitive dysfunction.
Mild- Evidence of functional intellectual.
Moderate- Cannot work or maintain the more demanding aspects of daily life.
Severe- Major intellectual incapacity.
End Stage- Nearly vegetative.

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