Those familiar with longevity science will probably have encountered the concept of biological age as opposed to age in years, which can seem a little strange to newcomers. Now, however, there’s another new calculation to consider, your functional age (https://longevity.technology/news/measuring-longevity-making-the-case-for-functional-age/). Let’s take a look at what that means.
Your age in years, also called chronological age, is how long you’ve been alive. You look at your date of birth and count up to the present day. We all know that older people are more prone to health problems than young people, but scientists researching aging and longevity realized that years alone weren’t the best measure of your health risk. As a result, the concept of biological age was developed.
Biological age looks at certain biological markers to measure whether you’re at risk of various medical conditions that are often considered age-related. For example, people who smoke a lot will probably have a higher biological age than those who don’t, regardless of who is actually older. Which markers should be considered when calculating biological age is a matter of debate as researchers look for more effective ways to evaluate and improve lifespans.
There are some criticisms of biological age. It has become increasingly commercialized (used to sell new products rather than drive research), which can lead to misunderstandings among people who don’t fully grasp the science. For example, you can make lifestyle changes that improve your health but your biological age may remain high for several years. If you don’t know that the impact of lifestyle adjustments may be delayed in your biological age calculation, you may be disappointed and demoralized, wondering what the point was of trying to improve your health.
Dr. Julie Cooney, the CEO of a longevity startup called Zest, noticed the problems with biological age and wanted to make improvements. This led to the development of a concept called functional age, which still uses blood biomarkers but is based on your lived experience. It can rapidly change to reflect shifts in your physical health when you make lifestyle adjustments.
A similar concept already exists in the world of aged care, but Cooney hopes to expand it so even younger people can test their functionality in everything from inflammation and cardiovascular health to things like cognitive ability and mood. It should allow for effective monitoring of changes to physical and cognitive performance.
