Biological age

Bio­lo­gi­cal age descri­bes how far the body or an indi­vi­du­al organ has actual­ly aged, regard­less of the num­ber of years lived. It can be hig­her or lower than chro­no­lo­gi­cal age. Gene­tics, life­style and envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors deter­mi­ne how far the two values diverge.

Appli­ca­ti­on

Various mar­kers are used to esti­ma­te it, such as blood values, fit­ness para­me­ters, telo­me­re length or DNA methy­la­ti­on pat­terns, known as the epi­ge­ne­tic clock. In the skin, signs such as wrink­le depth, ela­s­ti­ci­ty, pig­men­ta­ti­on dis­or­ders and pho­to­aging can be asses­sed and com­pared with the avera­ge for peo­p­le of the same age.

Good to know

Dif­fe­rent tests often pro­du­ce dif­fe­rent results, and a sin­gle figu­re says litt­le about an indi­vi­dual’s health. Com­mer­cial tests vary con­sider­a­b­ly in how well they have been sci­en­ti­fi­cal­ly vali­da­ted. They are most useful for track­ing chan­ges over time rather than as a diagnosis.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Skin ana­ly­sis