Health Farm

-- Temper your excitement – no one’s about to undergo a Benjamin Button metamorphosis.

However, a small clinical study in California suggests for the first time that it might be possible to reverse the body’s epigenetic clock, which measures a person’s biological age.

While there’s no disputing your chronological age – the number of years you’ve lived – your biological age is more fluid, influenced by a range of factors, including genetics, diet, exercise, health issues, stress, and sleep. That’s why some people look younger than their age, and others look, well, ragged.

The study recruited nine healthy men aged 51 to 65 who took a combination of growth hormone and two common anti-diabetic drugs.

Researchers wanted to see if the drugs were able to prevent or reverse the deterioration of the immune system, which happens naturally with age.

Treatment targeted the thymus, which plays a key role in the immune system and disease-fighting T-cells. As we age our thymus shrinks, and by the age of 75 the gland has essentially turned to fat.

The drugs seemed to work, with blood tests and MRIs showing a regeneration of thymus tissue, which according to researchers shaved an average of 2.5 years from patients’ biological clocks. The treatment also helped rejuvenate immune systems. Further testing showed anti-aging effects continued for several months after the treatment period had ended.

Sounds promising. In the meantime, get more exercise and sleep, and eat less processed crap.