Slowing down the ageing process biologically isn't just about vanity but spending more life years free from disease. Photo / Getty Images
Staring down the barrel of a “significant birthday”, Joanna Wane takes a DNA test to measure her cellular age and sets herself a challenge.
A few days before I got married, the young son of some close friends asked his mother, “Is Joanna an adult or a child?” I was 32 at the time. It’s the best compliment I’ve ever had, and I like to think there’s still a bit of truth in it today.
A last-gasp conception from the embers of a miserable marriage, I’m the youngest of four by a significant margin. Being the “baby” of the family has definitely shaped how I move through the world. A fringe Baby Boomer who grew up using rotary-dial telephones, I still pretty much assume I’m one of the youngest people in the room.
For my 50th birthday, I signed up for a masters course at Outward Bound, to prove to myself that I wasn’t done with having adventures just yet. Last week, the only person in the group who was older than me texted to say she’d just completed her goal of walking and e-biking the entire length of New Zealand.
In November, I tip into the next decade. It’s a shock, I’ll admit, but my eldest sister turns 74 this year and she’s still campaigning on the frontline at peace events and anti-nuclear demonstrations. My sister-in-law, who’s about the same age, goes to gigs and regularly runs for an hour.
On the day I turn 60, I’ll be in Ōamaru, after e-biking the 315km Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail from Mt Cook. At least, that’s the plan. It’s not the only challenge I’ve set myself, though. Late last year, I sent off a blood sample to the United States to measure my biological age — essentially looking at whether my body’s physical deterioration at a cellular level matches the number of birthdays I’ve had (see How Fast Am I Ageing? below for the results). Now, I’m hoping to knock a few more candles off my cake.
I won’t be doing anything too drastic as I try to nudge back the clock — I’m not that kind of girl. A little more exercise, a little less alcohol, not letting myself get so stressed. Last month, I had a hypnotherapy session to break a lifetime habit of grinding my teeth. I’m on a few select anti-ageing supplements, based on credible scientific research, and have added a “brain drink” to my diet.
On my next birthday, I’ll take the test again to see if I’ve managed to shift the dial and report back. I’m aiming for 50.
In New Zealand, the average lifespan for women is 83.5 years, according to Stats NZ. The international data on “healthspan”, the number of years you can expect to remain healthy and free from disease, is less comforting. In the US, it’s 63.
You can’t change your DNA, a genetic inheritance that’s essentially a biological roll of the dice. What you can potentially change are the epigenetic factors that regulate your genes and can cause them to malfunction, from the impact of stress, adversity and pollution to diet, exercise and whether or not you drink and/or smoke. Basically, it’s all about the environment you live in and the way you behave in it. What you might find surprising is how little being born with “good genes” influences how well you’ll age.
“Eighty per cent is not luck, it’s the choices you make,” says Greg Macpherson, founder of Auckland-based biotechnology company SRW, which aims to support “healthy ageing” at the cellular level. “You could have a twin sister with the same set of genes who’s had a rock-and-roll lifestyle and her biological age will be older because of the damage that’s been done. So yes, good genes [are part of the equation] but also good management.”
I first interviewed Macpherson in 2021 for a Canvas story, The Race to “Cure” Ageing, on the latest scientific research into why our bodies fail and what we can do to repair (or even reverse) the ravages of time. From cancer and heart disease to arthritis and cognitive decline, age is the primary risk factor for almost every chronic and life-threatening disease. “The idea,” he says, “is to die old as young as you possibly can.”
Last year, SRW partnered with US epigenetics company TruDiagnostics, which has developed a collection kit you can use at home to take a pinprick blood sample that’s sent off for analysis. Detailed results include your biological age at a molecular level (as opposed to how many birthdays you’ve had) and the speed at which your body is currently ageing.
Considered the most precise measure and the best predictor of future health outcomes, the DunedinPACE report is based on a rate-of-ageing algorithm that uses artificial intelligence to draw on five decades of data from the internationally renowned Dunedin Study. Fast agers are at an increased risk of developing a chronic disease and are more likely to die within the next five years than standard or slow agers. They also perform less well on various quality-of-life measures, such as balance, grip strength, IQ and facial ageing.
That sounds pretty grim, but the point of having a baseline reference point is that you can then make some lifestyle changes and be re-tested to see if the metrics have changed. Macpherson has met a 67-year-old man who managed to reverse his biological age by 17 years. (He didn’t look that much younger, apparently. The external damage had already been done.)
Developed in collaboration with Duke University in North Carolina and Columbia University in New York, the DunedinPACE (Pace of Ageing Computed from the Epigenome) analyses hundreds of thousands of chemical tags called DNA methylation biomarkers, where life experience has left a cellular signature. When the Dunedin cohort — almost 1000 people who have been studied since birth — were tested at the age of 45, some were ageing biologically at twice their chronological age. Others were physiologically still in their early 30s.
Macpherson describes the DunedinPACE test as the leading indicator of how well a person is travelling through time. Right now, the cost is prohibitive, but he can see a time when doctors will prescribe an epigenetic test like this one every six months as part of a preventative health approach, so patients can make lifestyle changes and track what’s working. It could also be used in clinical trials to test the efficacy of new medications.
Just to be clear upfront, Macpherson has skin in the game. His company is supplying me with the epigenetic testing kits, which are dispatched to the US for analysis in the TruDiagnostics lab. I’ve also been sent a year’s worth of SRW supplements, specifically designed to support nine key cellular functions that decline with age.
On top of that, I’m on a daily dose of the no-caffeine health drink Ārepa, developed by an entrepreneurial New Zealand company to improve brain function. The three key ingredients of the patented formula are locally grown blackcurrants, a pine bark extract and the amino acid L-theanine, which is found in green tea.
Leading Ārepa’s research team is Melbourne-based neuroscientist Professor Andrew Scholey, who has overseen a placebo-controlled trial at the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology, assessing neurocognitive performance and brain wave activity and published a study showing Ārepa can improve cognition under physical fatigue. The company is also working with the Dementia Australia Research Foundation to investigate whether the patented formula can delay the decline in people with mild cognitive impairment.
The other support person I’ve brought on board for my own year-long trial is the osteopath I’ve been seeing sporadically for the past 20 years, Glyn Flutey at Form and Function. I call him “Maestro”. It turns out he knows all about Ārepa and has recommended it to a couple of patients who have Parkinson’s disease. “What you’ve got left needs to be functioning and firing as much as possible,” he says.
Flutey, who reads my body better than I do, has been around long enough to have three generations of the same family on his books, from babies to a matriarch in her 90s. He believes stress is often an underlying factor behind both the chronic and acute injuries he treats. Part of the problem, he reckons, is that we’re better at ramping ourselves up to confront major life events than we are at debriefing afterwards, to help relieve that heightened state. “We didn’t do that after the cyclone or as fully as we should have with Covid, either.”
As far as exercise goes, I’m regularly cycling to work, despite a near catastrophe when I got back on my bike after a long break and didn’t realise I was in the wrong changing room until a guy walked through the door. Thankfully, I was still fully dressed. Note to self: book eye test immediately.
HOW FAST AM I AGEING?
The results of a fingerprick DNA blood test, which I administered at home on my last birthday and sent off for analysis, turned out pretty well for me. When I re-take the test after six months, and then again on November 16 — the day I turn 60 — I’ll be able to see whether I’ve managed to slow down time even further. Here’s my baseline data (the full reports also show where I sit compared to the 20,000 or so other people who’ve been tested so far):
Chronological age: 59
The one that’s on my birth certificate.
Intrinsic epigenetic age: 55.39
This is my cellular (or biological) age and it means that my DNA is a few years younger than I am. Epigenetic age can be altered through lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, etc). However, “intrinsic age” reports don’t differentiate between cell types that age at a different rate, providing a less complete picture.
Extrinsic epigenetic age: 43.96
A better predictor of outcomes, “extrinsic age” factors in age-related changes associated with the functioning of the immune system. A high reading, showing age acceleration, is correlated with shorter lifespans. For most people, their extrinsic age will be approximately eight years or so lower than their intrinsic age, so this is a positive result for me.
DunedinPACE value: 0.71
Using an algorithm based on data from the Dunedin Study, this measures how fast a person is currently ageing — kind of like a speedometer. So, in a chronological year, my biological age is increasing by about eight and a half months. Of all the measurements, this is considered the most critical one. Research has found that a score above 1 increases the risk of death by 56 per cent over the next seven years and the risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease by 54 per cent. It’s also the most fluid measure, with the potential to show significant change in as little as eight weeks.
Telomere length: 7 kilobases
Telomeres are protective tips at the end of chromosome DNA strands that protect genetic data and shorten with age, a process also associated with several chronic preventable diseases (including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and osteoporosis) and a higher risk of death. My average telomere length is 57.75 per cent longer than people my age.
Weight loss response: Non-responder
Studies on 11 CpG sites on the genome show some people are more likely to lose weight by restricting calories than others. I’m not one of them.
Smoking & disease risk: Low
Measured by the level of methylation at the AHRR gene, which regulates the metabolism of particles from toxic cigarette smoke (among other things). I’m not a smoker and my DNA methylation score reflects that, putting me at no epigenetic risk of developing smoking-related conditions.
Alcohol consumption: 3-5 times a week
This gives me a higher risk score for DNA methylation (essentially cellular damage) than 82.7 per cent of the test population, a fair number of whom are health-conscious teetotallers. Evidence on the biological harm caused by drinking has led to new guidelines being released by the Canadian Government in January, recommending a limit of just two drinks a week. My most sobering result.
* To find out more about the DNA Age test, available through Auckland-based biotechnology company SRW, see scienceresearchwellness.com
Unbound Vol 1 weaves together pictures and interviews with NZ surfers.