In search of biological age …
Curious about your biological age? Watch Super.Markt reporter Thomas Förster from local TV-Channel rbb (Berlin and Brandenburg; in German!) go on a very engaging “customer journey”.
At age 57, he is anxious to get to the bottom line of his overall health. So, his quest leads him to three different methods: epigenetic tests, internet questionnaires and a fitness studio test.
Epigenetics: practice vs. theory
The reporter starts with the epigenetic tests, as it can take time to obtain the results. He has selected epiAge, cerascreen and my DNAge. From the get-go, epiAge stands out from at least two perspectives: it is not only the most affordable test, but also the easiest to use − i.e. the least invasive, since he needs only collect a saliva sample.
Professor Ilja Demuth, a specialist in the biology of ageing at the Charité Hospital in Berlin, whom Thomas Förster consulted as an expert, explains the following about the tests: “This is an objective measurement, and it reflects, for example, lifestyle factors, quite well, that is how you have exercised in the course of your life, how you have eaten, whether you have smoked or not. But this is still the subject of research, so it is far from clear how good it is.”
Online-testing: a hall of mirrors
While Förster waits for his test results, he focusses on five online questionnaires as the most convenient way to determine his biological age. He answers questions on his weight, diet, stress load, alcohol consumption and illnesses. However, Professor Björn Schuhmacher, a researcher on ageing at CECAD (University of Cologne), who has investigated online tests, warns him not to take these tests too seriously. Schuhmacher emphasises that the results are based purely on statistics and that these can prove meaningless for the individual – even if they may provide a little guidance or some incentive for change.
In the end, the reporter obtains five different results – between 53 and 66 years old, leaving him rather perplexed.
Off to the gym!
Hence, he decides to have his BioAge assessed at the gym. At “Holmes Place”, four different performance parameters are measured directly: strength, flexibility, metabolism and cardio power. Here, Förster is directly confronted with his strengths and weaknesses: for example, his strength is that of a 40-year-old, but it must compensate for the flexibility of a 66-year-old. Overall, his BioAge score is deemed that of a 56-year-old compared to his peers.
More suspense …
After the excursion to the gym, comes the showdown between the epigenetic test results. The reporter is given three different biological ages: 51.19 for epiAge, 57 for cerascreen and 59 for my DNAge.
Again, the reporter is puzzled. Professor Demuth comforts him with the statement that there is no algorithm in the scientific field “that predicts biological age for the individual so accurately that the information proves really significant”.
The missing key
Indeed, the results of all the tests range between 51 and 66 years old. No wonder, the reporter feels baffled and wishes for more than “just” lifestyle advice.
Unfortunately, what the report does not sufficiently emphasise is that age affects an organism as a whole, leaving widely scattered traces. For example, the fact that different epigenetic tests deliver different results is to be expected since they analyse different regions around the DNA. These in turn correlate more or less well with an individual’s biological age.
Where tests differ significantly, however, is in their replicability. Thanks to the lean yet stringent design of epiAge, users experience a consistency and coherence of results that enables them to monitor their biological age both in the short- and long-term.
Finally, lifestyle changes are actually the strategies that pay the highest dividends – not just because they have been widely proven over the years, but also because they have the fewest negative side-effects.
So, why don’t you get started on your biological age journey with epiAge?
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„Biologisches Alter: Wie sinnvoll sind die Tests?“, rbb fernsehen-online, Mo 18.03.2024 | 20:15 | SUPER.MARKT. Online: https://www.rbb-online.de/supermarkt/sendungen/20240318_2015/biologisches-alter-wie-sinnvoll-sind-die-selbst-tests.html (in German!)
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