Most of us prefer not to know exactly when our time is up.
Between AI tools that eerily predict death dates and genetic tests that reveal disease risks, if you're like me, there's something comforting about living in blissful ignorance about our mortality.
But what if a simple brain scan could reveal whether you're ageing faster than you should be? And doctors could prevent serious health problems before they start?
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Researchers at Duke University have revealed that an MRI brain scan can accurately determine how fast your body is biologically ageing compared to your actual age.
Your biological age is different from your actual age. While you might be 45 years old chronologically, your body could be ageing like someone who's 50 or 40, depending on various genetic and lifestyle factors.
By examining these patterns early, scientists can identify who's ageing faster than normal and is likely to face health problems down the road, including Alzheimer's.
The researchers created a tool called DunedinPACE that analyses a single brain scan to calculate someone's 'Pace of Ageing.' The system examines multiple brain features including surface area, grey matter volume, and the size of specific brain regions like the hippocampus.
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Researchers trained their tool on the brain scans of 860 people in the Dunedin Study.
The results found that 'fast agers' were 18% more likely to be diagnosed with chronic diseases in the following years and 40% more likely to die within that timeframe compared to slower agers.
"What's really cool about this is that we've captured how fast people are ageing using data collected in midlife and it's helping us predict diagnosis of dementia among people who are much older.' said Ahmad Hariri, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke.
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People ageing faster showed more shrinkage in the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory formation. The outer layer of the brain also appeared thinner in fast agers, suggesting wear and tear typically seen in much older adults.
Additionally, the fluid-filled spaces in the brain (ventricles) were larger in fast agers, which is associated with worse health outcomes after middle age.
Beyond brain health, those identified as fast agers were more likely to develop health problems later in life, such as frailty, heart attacks, lung disease, or stroke.
"The way we age as we get older is quite distinct from how many times we've travelled around the sun," Hariri added. "The link between ageing of the brain and body are pretty compelling."
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The test also performed well across diverse backgrounds, as the research involved participants from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds across multiple countries.
"It seems to be capturing something that is reflected in all brains," Hariri described.