You can’t technically turn back the clock and wake up 10 years younger, but a very recent clinical study has shown that certain changes to DNA that cause aging could potentially be reversible. Biological age is normally measured by changes that accumulate within our DNA over time, resulting in the classic events associated with aging. However, this study has discovered a drug that appears to reverse biological age and minimize the changes in DNA that cause aging.
The study involved only nine individuals, all of them being white men between the ages of 51-65 years old. These individuals self-administered a cocktail of growth hormone, a diabetes medication, and a hormone supplement, several times a week for an entire year. Scientists looked at their DNA both before and after this drug treatment and found that after the full year, participants appeared to have shed 2.5 years in biological age. Sara Hägg, a molecular epidemiologist at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden stated that “it has never been shown before that predicted biological age…can be reversed over time in the same individuals, and especially so after an intervention of this kind”.
As we age, our DNA picks up “markers” in the form of methyl groups that attach to our DNA and change the way it’s read. These are known as epigenetic changes, and the more of them we exhibit, the “older” we are. In fact, these markers often arrange themselves in a particular order and are used by scientists to determine biological age within two to three years. These markers are what were reversed in this clinical trial, and while the results are extremely preliminary, they’re evidence that these changes to our DNA can be reversed.
In addition to reversing DNA epigenetic changes, the trail had some other staggering results. The participants were shown to have an improvement in their thyme tissue, boosting the development of immune cells and the body’s immune system. The participant’s kidneys were increasingly efficient, filtering more toxins out of the blood after the treatments.
Obviously, this was an extremely small trial lacking variation as well as any type of control group, but that doesn’t mean that the results aren’t promising. Regardless of the research that still needs to be done in this field and around this “age-reversing” cocktail, the idea that biological age can actually be reversed at all is an exciting observation for the worlds of medicine and science. Of course, if you’re looking to slow your own aging process, GxRenew may be the kit for you. GxRenew is a DNA-based healthy aging program that identifies your unique genetic makeup, then provides health management strategies that are tailored to your specific genotype and can help delay signs of aging. You can find out more on our products page!
