New research by Senior Research Fellow Dr. Kyle Bourassa finds a blood measure of aging predicts future health

In a new study of 2,216 post-9/11 Veterans, Dr. Bourassa found that veterans with faster epigenetic aging were more likely to develop chronic disease, have greater healthcare utilization, and were at greater risk of premature mortality over the next decade. Some of the specific diseases associated with faster aging included myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, and kidney disease, which were measured using electronic health records from VA hospitals. This study provides some of the first evidence that epigenetic aging predicts health in a real-world medical setting and suggests that if interventions can be developed to slow aging, they might help prolong independence, health, and wellbeing as people grow older. The study can be found here.