▶ Watch Video: Is a genetic variant in Amish people the key to living longer?
Chicago — Medical researchers in Chicago are studying the difference between a person’s chronological age — how many years they’ve lived — and their biological age, how old their body actually is.
“We are in a place where the biology of aging has been demystified,” said Dr. Douglas Vaughan, director of the Potocsnak Longevity Institute at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and the head of the study. “…If we can slow down aging, just a little bit, we can push back the onset of disease, and we can give people a longer health span.”
The foundation of Vaughan’s research came from a small Amish community in Indiana, where he found that a genetic variation in about 10% of the population allows them to live, on average, a decade longer than those in their community.
“They can teach us a lot about what’s required for healthy aging to take place,” Vaughan said.
That work has evolved into an international examination of aging Vaughan leads at the Longevity Institute.
“As you get older, you want to know, like, am I going stay sharp,” Vaughan said.
The Longevity Institute was established in 2022. Study participants undergo a one-time visit that lasts anywhere from 60 minutes to 3 hours, with follow-ups to provide updates on their health status.
“Being able to be a representative from minority community is really important because I wanna know, how does this information measure up to people like me?” study participant Kalinda Marshall said.
The researchers use a series of tests to calculate biological age, including a scan of the retina and an analysis of participants’ physical movement.
They also measure body mass in a machine called a Bod Pod. They do an electrocardiogram for heart function. They then use artificial intelligence to scour the mountain of data to come up with a number for a participant’s biological age.
“Artificial intelligence gives us the opportunity to find patterns in the data that we can’t find with our eyes, that we can’t detect with a human brain,” said Dr. Josh Cheema, a cardiologist with Northwestern Medicine involved in the project.
The work has a special focus on people in marginalized communities and those living with long-term medical problems.
“We are really interested in finding out ways to slow down aging in people that are disadvantaged,” Vaughan said.
A network of similar labs conducting the same research on three other continents is in the works, and there are already signs of progress. In trials, pills that mimic the genetic variation that helps Amish live longer has done the same thing for mice.
Says Vaughan, “So, theoretically, we could bring this Amish advantage to everybody.”
