Some people's organs are experiencing accelerated aging! Stay away from habits that accelerate the aging of these organs!

As we age, our organs also age step by step. However, the aging of some people's organs may not be synchronized. About 20% of people have an organ that is experiencing accelerated aging, and this asynchronous aging may increase the risk of death.

Some people's organs are experiencing accelerated aging!

Just as aging varies from person to person, there are also differences in aging between organs within an individual. A study of more than 5,000 people published in the journal Nature on December 6, 2023 found that nearly 20% of people have accelerated aging of an organ, which means that about 1 in 5 people will experience accelerated aging of an organ; in addition, 1.7% of people even show accelerated aging of two organs, and the risk of death for such people is 6.5 times that of healthy individuals.

Research screenshots

Scientists calculated the age of organs through "plasma proteome samples" in the blood, focusing on the expression levels in 11 organ tissues, covering a wide range of people aged 20 to 90.

The study found that when there is an "age difference" in 10 of the 11 organ tissues, including the brain, heart, liver, intestines, immune system, and muscles, it is associated with an increased risk of death in the future, with the risk increase ranging from 15% to 50%.

That is to say, when one of your organs is separated from the rest of the body and begins to age prematurely, the risk of death is already increasing. Maybe your overall body has not changed much from the outside, but some lifestyle habits may be damaging your organs, or even causing them to age faster. You must pay attention. It is very important to take good care of your organs. ①②

Stay away from habits that accelerate the aging of these organs!

1. Liver: excessive drinking and taking medicines indiscriminately

Wang Bingyuan, chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology at the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, published an article in Health Times in 2017 stating that long-term heavy drinking can lead to alcoholic liver disease, which usually manifests as fatty liver in the early stages, and can then develop into alcoholic hepatitis, liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and further develop into liver cancer.

Chen Zhiping and Lin Zeyu, hepatobiliary and breast surgeons at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, published an article in Health Times in 2020, saying that almost all drugs must be metabolized by the liver, and the concentration of drugs and their metabolites in the liver is much higher than in other organs. Health care drugs are often a "hodgepodge", which greatly increases the burden on the liver and the risk of liver damage. As the body of middle-aged and elderly people ages, the function of the liver also declines, the metabolic and detoxification capabilities weaken, and it is more likely to accumulate toxic components. ④

2. Heart: Obesity, smoking

According to "An Analysis of the Current Status of Heart Aging and the Contribution of Risk Factors in Chinese Residents Aged 35-64" published in the Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine in 2023, the heart age of Chinese people has aged by 7 years. Among them, the top two risk factors leading to this situation are overweight or obesity and smoking. ⑤

3. Brain: Not thinking, staying up late

Ma Qingfeng, deputy chief physician of the Department of Neurology at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, said in an interview with Health Times in 2016 that brain power reaches its peak in the 20s, and then brain aging begins. But at the same time, the experience of dealing with problems continues to improve. This compensation makes people feel that they are getting smarter and smarter. But after the age of 50, the brain continues to decline, but it is difficult to improve experience, so people gradually begin to realize that "the brain is not enough." ⑥

In addition, many people feel that their brains are not working properly after staying up all night. A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience in 2023 found that for people who did not sleep all night, machine algorithms judged that their brain age the next day was 1-2 years older than before.

Nowadays, many people are inseparable from their mobile phones every day. Many of them do superficial reading without thinking, and are accustomed to staying up late. This will undoubtedly accelerate brain aging in the long run.

Health Times

4. Lungs: Smoking

Long-term smoking will accelerate the decline of lung function. According to Changsha Evening News in 2020, a study conducted a "lung age" test on 110 asymptomatic smokers, of which 93.6% were male, with an average age of 48 and an average lung age of 59. In other words, the lung function of smokers aged by an average of 11 years.⑧

5. Kidney: Eating too much salt and too much meat

In an interview with the Yangtze Evening News in 2020, Cao Changchun, deputy director of the Yifu Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University and a nephrologist, said that with the improvement of living standards, people eat more meat. A high-protein diet, like a high-salt diet, can cause great damage to the kidneys.

The body needs to excrete excess salt, which will increase the burden on the kidneys. Protein is broken down after entering the body, eventually forming metabolites such as urea nitrogen and creatinine, which also need to be filtered by the kidneys. In addition, high-protein foods often contain very high purine content. The increase in purine forms excessive uric acid, which will be deposited in the kidneys, causing another kind of damage to the kidneys. ⑨

6. Muscles: Sitting for a long time

An article published in 2012 titled "Research Progress on Sarcopenia" mentioned that after the age of 30, muscle loss is 1% to 5% per year. After the age of 60, muscle strength decreases by 3% to 5% per year. Once muscle loss reaches 30%, normal function will be affected.

If you are used to sitting for a long time, this situation may be even worse. Liu Xuezheng, director of the Department of Geriatrics at the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said in an interview with Jinwanbao in 2022 that long-term lack of exercise in the human body will cause the function of tissues and organs to decline, which can cause basic muscle atrophy and poor respiratory and circulatory function, reduce the muscle strength of the neck, abdomen, waist, back and thighs, and cause symptoms such as shoulder pain, back pain, and knee pain. ⑪

It is recommended to maintain 30 to 60 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise every day, and do strength training two days a week, such as push-ups against the wall. 7. Immune system: Emotional itself is declining with age, so we should pay more attention to the "destructive power" of emotions on immunity.

Professor Li Yan, director of the Department of Psychology and Sleep at Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said in an interview with Nanfang Daily in 2020 that emotions are closely related to immunity. In particular, anxiety and tension can lead to immune dysfunction. Clinically, it has been found that many teenagers or frail adults have a variety of respiratory infections due to large fluctuations in emotions, and may also cause some rhinitis or digestive problems. ⑫