Key points from article :
A study reported in New Scientist suggests that women's cells show signs of ageing, such as inflammation and the formation of giant cells, around age 19, while men's cells display these markers around age 40.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Center for Healthy Aging analyzed 33 million biopsy reports from over 4.9 million individuals using machine learning.
The findings indicate that cellular ageing in men begins rapidly at 40, while it starts earlier in women and progresses gradually. This could potentially explain why women are more at risk for certain health complications.
However, the study has limitations, as the biopsies were only taken when participants sought medical attention, which could skew the results, and the samples were only collected from white individuals. The research may eventually contribute to an AI-based system for predicting a person's risk of different medical conditions based on biopsy reports and age.
“... women have higher levels of frailty throughout life, so that would fit with ageing beginning earlier in females," explained lead author Michael Ben Ezra.
Research published on bioRxiv (preprint server).
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