Scientists at King's College London have developed a method of testing how well your body is aging, according to BBC News. The blood test can reportedly help in the prediction of various factors such as when a person will die and the risk of dementia. "Most people accept that all 60-year-olds are not the same, but there has been no reliable test for underlying 'biological age,'" said Jamie Timmons, a professor from King's College and lead author of the study.
The test works by testing the behavior of 150 genes and looking for a genetic "aging signature" associated with health in your body's cells, according to The Telegraph.
There is currently no known cure for dementia, but studies like this one bring us closer and give us a better understanding of their biological correlates.
"There's a healthy aging signature that's common to all our tissues, and it appears to be prognostic for a number of things including longevity and cognitive decline," Timmons said. "It looks like from the age of 40 onwards you can use this to give guidance on how well an individual is aging."
Scientists are already hoping to use the research to help identify people susceptible to diseases and modify organ donation and cancer screening guidelines, according to AOL News.
"Our discovery provides the first robust molecular 'signature' of biological age in humans and should be able to transform the way that 'age' is used to make medical decisions," Timmons said.
