Can the Bacteria in Your Stomach Reveal Your Age?
/
Courtesy of Science. 2019.
Since the early 1900’s it’s been accepted within the scientific community that bacteria can be beneficial for the digestive system of humans. Recently, even animals are said to benefit from said “good” bacteria or probiotics. How much do we know about this abundance of bacteria though? Scientists are still learning, but the true question might be ‘How much does this bacteria know about us’?
Researchers in Maryland recently conducted a test examining 3,600 different samples of bacteria from 1,165 healthy individuals age 20-90. They found that bacteria actually differs vastly between various age groups, to the point where their AI program could be trained to determine someones age within 4 years based on what bacteria was present. They think this “microbiome aging clock” could be used as a baseline to test how fast or slow a person’s gut is aging and how different diets might have an effect on longevity. This could also be used to compare healthy individuals with those who have certain diseases, like Alzheimers, to see whether their microbiomes deviate from the norm.
Hopefully this can help researchers test whether certain interventions have any effect on the aging process. Click below to read this entire article or the paper detailing this study.