Biomarkers and Aging: What is the connection?
What are biomarkers?
Simply put, biomarkers are measurements of a biological process.
In this article, we are going to review:
- What do biomarkers say about your health?
- Can biomarkers change?
- How do doctors measure biomarkers and aging?
What Do Biomarkers Say About Your Health?
Think of a biomarker report like looking at the dashboard of a car. A car has gauges that can measure the air pressure of the tires, the amount of gas in the tank, the temperature of the engine, and the quality of the oil in the filter, just to name a few.
Your doctor has gauges that can measure the pressure in your arteries, the amount of blood sugar in the cells, the temperature of the body, and the quality of the plasma in the blood, just to name a few.
When talking about the human body, these measurements are called biomarkers. More examples of biomarkers are:
- Cholesterol levels for heart disease
- Bone density for osteoporosis
- Aptitude tests for brain function
- C-reactive protein for inflammation
- 8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine for oxidative stress
- Troponin for heart damage
- Amyloid beta and tau proteins for Alzheimer’s disease
- CA-125 for ovarian cancer
- Antinuclear antibodies for autoimmune illnesses
- Serotonin levels for depression
- Vitamin D3 for bone health.
Biomarkers are used in clinical practice and research to diagnose diseases, monitor disease progression, assess treatments’ effectiveness, and predict patient outcomes.
For example:
- If your hemoglobin A1c is above 6.5%, you have diabetes.
- If your bone density T score is below -2.5, you have weakened bone.
- If your systolic blood pressure is above 130 mmHg, you have high blood pressure.
- If your C-reactive protein exceeds 3 mg/L, you are at higher risk for heart disease.
Just as you rely on your car’s dashboard to give you a clue on the health of your vehicle, whether it needs more air in a tire or an oil change, your doctor relies on biomarkers to give a complete and clear view of the health of their patients.
Can Biomarkers Change?
Reversing the biomarkers may require a combination of traditional medicine and non-traditional methods, which may involve medications, surgery, or other medical interventions.
For example, to help lower blood pressure, you may be prescribed ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, or diuretics for high blood pressure. In addition, you may be enrolled in a meditation program, a weight loss program, or undergo testing for sleep apnea.
In many cases, reversing the biomarkers does not require managing the underlying cause of the disease but simply changing a person’s daily routine. Actions like lifestyle modifications, such as not smoking, not drinking alcohol, managing stress, improving your sleep, eating nutritiously, and exercising daily, can have a profoundly positive impact on most biomarkers associated with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and blood pressure.
Another option to reverse biomarkers is a new game-change therapy, Therapeutic Plasma Exchange. This procedure removes harmful toxins and abnormalities from your bloodstream, reducing inflammation and improving your body’s overall health. Recent studies have proven Therapeutic Plasma Exchange has reversed several biomarkers of aging.
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