A urine test can reveal a person’s biological age and tell whether that person is more susceptible to age-related diseases, according to a Belgian study. ‘Not everyone is biologically the same age as his or her chronological age.’
Environmental factors and your lifestyle, in addition to biological and genetic factors, can make you age faster. Scientists from Hasselt University and KU Leuven identified for the first time a group of protein fragments in urine samples that provide insight into the general health status of people. The results of their research were published in the scientific journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity.
Mirror of health
Our blood transports proteins or protein fragments throughout all vital organs of our body. Those proteins also end up in the urine and reflect how well the organs are functioning and by extension how healthy the whole body is. Different protein fragments – the scientists counted 54 – can tell whether someone is susceptible to age-related diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Prevent instead of cure
‘You can call it a urinary aging clock,’ says Dr Dries Martens of Hasselt University. ‘We can identify certain diseases even before they have developed. In this way we can fight diseases at an early stage, at a stage in which a person is still healthy. I believe that in the long term we will be able to prevent illnesses instead of curing them.’
Source: Knack, VRT
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