STUDY SHOWS We age particularly strongly in these years of life

Of course, aging is something very individual. However, researchers have found out when blood plasma - and thus physical fitness - changes in particular.

Do we start going downhill physically at 30? Or does it really start at 60? What is true for some is nonsense for others. That's logical because each of us has different physical prerequisites. Genetics, lifestyle and illness, for example, can influence perceived age. 

Scientists at Stanford University have found out at what age our blood plasma shows particular changes. The study was published in the "Nature Journal". For this purpose, the researchers studied 4200 subjects between the ages of 18 and 95. To be more precise, they examined more than 3,000 proteins present in the plasma. Their result: There are three age groups in which the changes in the blood are particularly noticeable: 34, 60 and 78 years.

So what does protein have to do with aging? Previous studies have already shown that protein changes have an effect on the aging process. Other researchers at Stanford University, for example, had found in mice that blood transfusions from younger animals had a positive effect on the older ones.

And what are they doing with this knowledge now?

The researchers hope that their findings will lead to medical progress. If a glance at the proteins in the blood is enough to tell how far the aging process has progressed, then certain diseases such as Alzheimer's or cardiovascular disease can be detected earlier and treated more quickly. 

In fact, the scientists made the following discovery: they estimated the age of various test subjects based only on the protein concentration in their blood. People who were older than estimated were unusually healthy for their age. Conversely, this means that people who are still young but already have "old" blood should be helped more with preventive measures against diseases.