Epigenetics and Ageing

Written By Az Saied

Start from the beginning

We usually think of aging in terms of birthdays. But biologically, not everyone ages at the same pace. Two people who are both 50 years old on paper can have very different risks of heart disease, dementia, or early death. This is where the idea of biological age comes in.

How do we measure biological age?

First we have to understand a bit of biology.

All of the genetic information that makes you the unique person you are is stored in your DNA - like a giant instruction manual. Every cell in your body has the same DNA code, and the instructions they hold hasn’t changed since the day you were conceived.

“But if the instructions haven’t changed, why am I ageing?”

It is because as we go through our lives, small molecules (called methyl groups) stick to our DNA which most often has the effect of ‘switching off’ the bit of code it stuck to. We call this DNA methylation. As we get older, more of our DNA gets ‘turned off’ because of these epigenetic changes, and our bodies start to show more signs of age (1).

What is an “Epigenetic Clock”?

Researchers have developed tools called epigenetic clocks that look at DNA methylation patterns in a sample of blood or other tissue and estimate a person’s biological age — how “old” their body appears on a molecular level (2).

Biological age estimates can be different from how old you are - depending on how healthy a life you lead. If your biological age is higher than your real age, it suggests faster ageing — a concept called epigenetic age acceleration. Studies have found that:

  • Higher epigenetic age acceleration is linked with worse health outcomes like frailty and higher risk of age-related diseases (3).

  • There is evidence linking biological age to a whole host of health risks including:

    • stroke (4),

    • heart attacks (5),

    • Alzheimer’s disease (6),

    • cancer (7),

    • autoimune conditions (8), and

    • mental health problems (9). 

  • The evidence shows that it is this ‘biological age’ which matters in determining our health, more than the number of candles on your last birthday cake (10).

Why is this important?

The key point in all of this is that:

We can reduce our biological age

Lifestyle changes, healthy behaviours, and certain medications can slow down and in some cases even reverse the hallmarks of ageing. By using state of the art sequencing technology and genomic medical science - our team will be able to use your results to create a personalised plan of lifestyle changes which can target your specific DNA methylation pattern.

As more and more research is published linking different health behaviours to DNA methylation changes - our team will continue to stay at the forefront of research, and we will share our findings here.

But be careful - there are companies out there who measure simple things like blood pressure and cholesterol and then claim they measure your biological age. While blood pressure and cholesterol levels are very important risk factors for stroke and heart attacks, that is not the same as measuring someone’s biological age on a molecular level, and can not deliver the personalised insights that are possible with todays technology.

References:

1) Xu Z. DNA methylation-based health predictors: advances, applications, and perspectives. Epigenomics. 2025 Oct;17(15):1083-1090. doi: 10.1080/17501911.2025.2550932. Epub 2025 Aug 26. PMID: 40856171; PMCID: PMC12520070.

2) Liang R, Tang Q, Chen J, Zhu L. Epigenetic Clocks: Beyond Biological Age, Using the Past to Predict the Present and Future. Aging Dis. 2024 Dec 13;16(6):3520-3545. doi: 10.14336/AD.2024.1495. PMID: 39751861; PMCID: PMC12539533.

3) Feng Jiacai , Huang Xingyu , Wu Rongqing , Ding Guohui , Liu Ming , Deng Renli, Accelerated biological aging based on DNA methylation clocks is a predictor of stroke occurrence: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Frontiers in Neurology, Volume 16 - 2025, https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1640853, DOI 10.3389/fneur.2025.1640853, ISSN 1664-2295

4) Lind et al. “DNA methylation-based biological age predicts incident stroke.” Aging (Albany NY), 2017. DOI: 10.18632/aging.101324

5) Lu et al. “DNA methylation GrimAge strongly predicts lifespan and healthspan.” Aging (Albany NY), 2019. DOI: 10.18632/aging.101684

6) Levine et al. “Epigenetic age of the pre-frontal cortex is associated with neuritic plaques, amyloid load, and Alzheimer’s disease.” Aging (Albany NY), 2015. DOI: 10.18632/aging.100864

7) Kresovich et al. “Biological aging, defined by DNA methylation, predicts cancer incidence and mortality.” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2019. DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-18-1012

8) Li et al. “Accelerated epigenetic aging in rheumatoid arthritis.” Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/art.41104

9) Han et al. “Epigenetic aging in major depressive disorder.” American Journal of Psychiatry, 2018. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17060595

10) Jian Hua Tay, Duarte Barros, Weilan Wang, Vanessa Kristina Wazny, Andrea B Maier, Biological age measured by DNA methylation clocks and frailty: a systematic review and meta-analysis, The Lancet Healthy Longevity, Volume 6, Issue 10, 2025, 100773, ISSN 2666-7568, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanhl.2025.100773.

Az Saied
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Sleep and DNA methylation