What can I learn from a biological age test? | Canada Voices

Earlier this year I attended a launch party for a Lancôme cosmetics’ new longevity line. The event’s entrance was flanked by two oversized video screens. A clip of actress Demi Moore played on a loop. Moore held a glowing red pill. She told attendees about “the skin’s biological age – the only age you can reverse.”

Inside, I was stopped by a woman in a white lab coat. Gesturing toward a futuristic looking device – somewhere between a ring light and that big white machine from the eye doctor – she asked if I’d like to test my skin’s age. I looked at the machine and thought about the bar soap I’d been using to wash my face. A recurring pimple just above my left nostril. The skin’s biological age … oh god, was this something I needed to care about now?

Our chronological age refers to the number of years we’ve been alive. Biological age is an estimate of how fast or slow your cells, tissues and organ systems are aging. I was first introduced to the concept in late 2020, while undergoing a comprehensive bloodwork panel for an article on testosterone therapy. Alongside complicated charts outlining various biomarkers was a number suggesting my body was a year older than my actual age, a score determined by comparing my stats to averages across large population studies.

“Biological age is basically the idea that your body might actually be younger or older than your chronological age,” said Dr. Michael Kober, director of the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging at UBC.

P90X was an infomercial workout sensation in the mid-aughts. How does it hold up today?

Kober notes that companies have applied the term biological age to brain health, our gut’s microbiome, skin care, and more. But despite major advances in longevity science and its research applications, there are a lot of criticisms about the way biological age is being represented to consumers.

“We’re far away from actually making this an individual predictor of health outcomes, … [the tests are] still a bit recreational, as opposed to really predictive and truly rigorously scientific,” he said.

That hasn’t stopped the tests from exploding in popularity over the past decade. Longevity influencer Bryan Johnson reportedly spends US$2-million each year attempting to reverse his biological age. The Kardashians took a biological age test on their reality show. Pop star Katy Perry recently posted a photo with boyfriend Justin Trudeau showing off the couple’s biological ages.

If you want to jump on the trend, here are some things to consider before taking the plunge.

How do you determine biological age?

While the concept has existed since the late sixties, until recently scientists didn’t have the tests or data to determine a person’s biological age. In 2013, professor Steve Horvath proposed the idea of an epigenetic clock based on the concept of DNA methylation. In the paper “DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types,” he demonstrated how DNA methylation can predict age. It was a huge breakthrough in the field and a huge leap forward for health research.

“You think of a gene as a light bulb … what the DNA methylation does is basically it sort of acts as the dimmer to set that light bulb.” said Dr. Kober. “If you look at a newborn, their dimmer settings will be different than a centenarian. We can measure those very precisely, and then use that information encoded in these dimmers to compute biological ages.”

The field has multiple generations of the clocks. First-generation clocks trained on chronological age. Second-generation clocks trained on mortality and health indicators. Third-generation clocks are meant to determine changes in epigenetic age rather than current epigenetic age. Other biological-age tests use different methods to determine their score.

The first biological age test I was given based the numbers off of a blood biomarker panel. Companies such as Insider Tracker and Canadian startup NiaHealth offer biomarker panels. Average prices for the tests can anywhere from $120 to $600 and above. To determine skin’s biological age – which turned out to be one year younger – the test used several photographs of my face and a digital questionnaire. A number of fitness devices also offer users a biological age (often referred to as a fitness age) often based on heart rate variability and sleep tracking. The accuracy of these tests can vary a lot.

Is VO2 max the best predictor of lifespan?

What are the criticisms against biological age tests?

Genetics play a huge part in our biological age, alongside lifestyle factors and our environment. Temporarily elevated stress levels, poor sleep, even a lingering cold or recent meal can impact your score. With so many variables at play, precision can be an issue.

“The concept is sound. How we measure it and give a reliable, predictable, biological age is not there yet,” said Dr. Elaine Chin, founder of The Bespoke Wellness Group in Toronto, specializing in longevity and regenerative medicine. “The other day I was wearing my fitness ring. I didn’t sleep well. It gave me a biological age five years older than the day before. But that’s not really true, of course.”

Should you take a biological age test?

A biological age test can offer a ballpark idea of your overall health. Whether you should put a lot of stock in the number is debatable. In my time as a wellness reporter, I’ve done three biological age tests. The results for each were more or less the same, but the recommendations that came with the test varied a lot, depending on who was giving feedback. One health care professional I went to noted that some vitamin D supplements might help my energy levels. Another suggested I might want to jump on testosterone replacement therapy for a better number.

When trying to assess what biological age might mean for your health, it’s important to remember that many companies offering these tests are trying to sell you something. That and – while there have been significant advances in the field of longevity – at the moment many experts are still wary of signing off on the tests on an individual level.

“Look at your biological age and you see a number. It does not give you a lot of solid information,” said Dr. Chin. “I think the day will come when we actually have standardized organ age biomarkers, a standardized list of things you can measure, like we do for other health tests.”