The reality is that we’re all going to age, but that doesn’t mean that our bodies have to grow old. Our chronological ages reflect the number of years we’ve lived, whereas our biological age is about how well our body is responding to those years. While some may gasp at how high their chronological age is, the real concern should be about your biological age, as it could raise one’s risk for dementia.
Biological Age and Brain Health
With the rising rates of dementia globally, it’s essential to both identify risk factors and implement preventive measures. Chronological age has been identified as a risk factor for the neurodegenerative condition, but could biological age also play a role?
Researchers from China conducted a study that featured 280,918 participants from a United Kingdom database. These individuals had an average chronological age of 57 at the start of the study and did not have dementia at that time. The researchers used two methods to measure biological age, making sure to measure lung function, blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as average cell volume and white blood cell count.
The researchers then followed the participants for an average of 14 years, during which 4,770 people developed dementia.
Accelerated Biological Aging Increases Dementia Risk
“These results support the hypothesis that advanced biological age may contribute to the development of dementia by causing a widespread change in brain structure.” – Yacong Bo, PhD, study author, Zhengzhou University, China
According to the study’s findings, published in Neurology, once the participants were split into four groups based on biological age, those with the most advanced biological age were around 30% more likely to develop dementia than those in the lowest group.
The results, which were adjusted for other dementia risk factors like age, education level and smoking status, detailed how people with the most advanced biological age displayed decreased gray matter volume across the brain’s regions,
“These brain structure changes explain some, but not all, of the association between advanced biological age and dementia,” Bo explained.
Reversing Biological Aging
Despite the study’s limitations, such as participants in the database being more health conscious than the general population, thus facing a reduced likelihood of developing dementia, it doesn’t take away from the importance of maintaining a healthy biological age.
Alongside dementia, many other age-related conditions may develop due to accelerated biological aging, so it’s important to adopt methods that can help combat this,
“While none of us can change our chronological age, we can influence our biological age through lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise,” explains Bo.
So, how can you influence your biological age in a way that promotes longevity? By getting quality sleep, abstaining from tobacco use, engaging in regular physical activity, maintaining healthy blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, consuming a healthy diet, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Want to know more?
If there’s one person that’s got a good grasp on his biological age, it’s Kenneth Scott. At 81, Scott is an energetic and passionate longevity biohacker with a biological age of 18. We spoke to him to find out what it is like to be an 82-year-old living with the internal biology of an 18-year-old.
References
Bo, Y., Sun, L., Hou, S., Zhang, F., et al. (2025). Associations of Accelerated Biological Aging With Dementia and the Mediation Role of Brain Structure. Neurology, 104(10). doi:https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000213616.
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