We’re Ageing Faster
We’re ageing at a faster rate, according to new research published in Nature Medicine, which reports that more recent generations are experiencing greater biological ageing relative to chronological age, and that this accelerated ageing is associated with an increased risk of early-onset solid cancers.
For example, “in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) and the US, people born in the 1990s face at least a fourfold higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer compared with those born in the 1960s.”
The study also observed that more recent birth cohorts exhibit an even greater biological age gap, which may reflect the accumulation and interaction of exposures across generations.
Emerging evidence suggests that accelerated ageing is linked to a broad range of exposomic factors, and in this context, the researchers point towards earlier and more sustained exposure to obesity and metabolic dysfunction, poorer diet quality, prolonged sedentary time, circadian disruption and pervasive environmental chemicals, alongside other, still uncharacterised factors that collectively alter our systemic biological environment.
This should make us all think differently about longevity!
We are investing extraordinary amounts of money, science and innovation into extending healthspan and slowing biological ageing later in life, which is exciting and important.
But what if the most valuable longevity interventions happen decades before we even start thinking about ageing? And as crazy as this sounds, thanks to the modern, arguably toxic, environments we have created over the past 50 years, what if longevity now needs to begin in childhood?
Protecting metabolic health, nourishing developing bodies and brains, moving, sleeping, building healthy relationships with food and reducing harmful exposures, are all basics that are currently not being met. This latest research is quite clear that we can no longer overlook the fundamentals of good health, in order to safeguard healthspan, quality of life and human capacity.
We need to rethink what environments we allow to be created, and ensure they support health, rather than continually ask the body to compensate for them, because the body can only compensate so much, and the price many people are paying is already too high!
I think this research highlights that the longevity conversation no longer has the luxury of just being about how we slow ageing, it’s now about how we save lives.
And one question I think we really need to ask is, why is each generation appearing to be ageing faster in the first place?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04448-w?
About the author
Dr Laura Holland is an advisor in preventative health and human capability, with a background in economics, nutrition and integrative medicine. Through BeU, she works privately with individuals, advises organisations, and writes about the future of health, behaviour and human flourishing.