I recently came across an article that caught my attention. The article, “There Are at Least 4 Different Ways of Aging, Scientists Say,” shared research suggesting that each of us has an “ageotype” or aging pathway—a system of our body that ages most rapidly.
The study’s author, Michael Snyder, a professor and the chair of genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine, stated: “People are aging at different rates, but what’s equally or even more important is where you see they’re aging differently.”
According to the research cited in the article, most of us fall into one of four ageotypes based on immune, liver, metabolic, or kidney influences.
While this is a good start, I believe that it is entirely likely that there are more than four ways to age. I would add to the list cardiovascular aging, brain aging, and especially energy aging, which involves our mitochondria—the little batteries inside each cell that provide over 90% of our cellular energy needs. Mitochondria are involved in many cellular responses including cell death, when cells cease to be able to carry out the functions necessary to maintain their viability and eventually disintegrate.
The research into ageotypes is relatively new. Eventually, we may have the information to tell individuals where they stand on particular pathways of aging. This could help in motivating them to change their lifestyle habits, such as diet, supplements, and exercise. The motivation to stay young and delay aging is strong, and most people would likely be open to learning more about their specific ageotype ages—or, more importantly, what they can do to slow that aging as much as possible. Whether they would actually put that information into practice and make the lifestyle changes necessary to optimize their aging process—and stick with them in the long run—remains to be seen.
We can’t entirely stop the aging process—the Fountain of Youth has yet to be found!—but there are things that we can do to keep ourselves feeling more youthful and being more active as we get on in years. For example, establishing a regular physical fitness routine and sticking with it can go a long way toward protecting our cardiovascular function and helping us to feel more energetic.
Nutritional Therapeutics (the company behind NTFactor® and NTFactor® Lipids) is very interested in helping people understand what they can do to help reduce their rate of aging. Taking the appropriate food supplements can help restore cellular energy in aged individuals, as has been found in clinical trials. In one published trial of older participants (of average age approximately 70), both men and women benefited from taking NTFactor Lipids®. In fact, their mitochondrial function improved to levels found in 30-year-olds! This was accompanied by increased vitality, cognition and other characteristics, as well as reductions in fatigue.
Although there are no panaceas when it comes to aging, we can use the insights gleaned from research such as that discussed above to fine-tune the ways we work to slow or reduce the effects of the aging process, or even regain some of the functional capabilities that have declined with age. With these efforts, we can lead more vital, productive lives as we age naturally.
Prof. Emeritus Garth Nicolson, PhD, MD (H)
The Institute for Molecular Medicine,
Huntington Beach, California
References
Nicolson GL, Breeding PC. Settineri R, Ferreira de Mattos G. Aging and chronic illnesses: Membrane Lipid Replacement for restoring mitochondrial function and reducing fatigue, pain, and other symptoms in aged individuals. Bioactive Compounds in Health & Disease 2020; 3(10): 194-203.
https://doi.org/10.31989/bchd.v3i10.749
Nicolson GL, Ferreira de Mattos G, Settineri R, Breeding PC. Membrane Lipid Replacement and its role in restoring mitochondrial membrane function and reducing symptoms in aging and age-related clinical conditions. Nature Cell Science 2024; 2(4): 238-256.
https://doi.org/10.61474/ncs.2024.00038
