The human body is capable of reversing the aging process - scientists believe.
A new study points to the fact that human biological age differs from chronological age, and that it could be reversible, that is, it could, in a way, stop the aging process.
An international team of scientists discovered markers of biological aging, which they found increase after major and unplanned stressful events, such as major surgery, pregnancy or a serious infection.
After recovery from stress, the markers return to the initial level - writes the "Science Alert" portal.
Two protein fragments have been discovered that are responsible for preventing skin aging and could be used in cosmetic products.
A growing understanding of the natural flexibility of DNA, to which cells add or remove chemical tags, simultaneously altering gene expression, is an enticing area of research for scientists.
So-called epigenetic changes can be a reflection of a person's exposure to lifestyle and environmental factors, such as malnutrition, infection or stress in childhood or later in life.
Epigenetics is a scientific discipline that studies the influence of external factors on the change and expression of genes, that is, it deals with when and under what circumstances genes will be activated that ultimately mean - health or disease.
Epigenetic changes mark time and can be used as a kind of molecular "clock" to compare the biological age of tissues and organs with the chronological age of a person.
The biological age of an individual can also be estimated by measuring the length of body gauges - protective caps at the ends of chromosomes that are shortened each time cells divide.
Previous studies looking at body measurements have shown that multiple pregnancies can age human cells.
Researchers conducting a small clinical trial realized that a cocktail of some drugs can reduce a person's biological age by several years.
In the new study, multiple epigenetic "clocks" were used, and they say that during "adult life", interacting with the environment, people accumulate changes in the chemical marks in the DNA molecule.
Epigenetic "clocks" reveal that stress-induced aging spurts may only be temporary.
When the stress is reduced, the biological age is completely or partially restored.
Blood samples from elderly trauma patients who underwent emergency surgery showed an increase in biological age markers, but they returned to baseline values by seven days after surgery.
The situation was different for patients who decided to undergo prearranged surgery. Namely, there were no signs of accelerated aging.
Therefore, scientists believe that their findings indicate that the body is able to reverse the biological aging process.
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