Saturday, October 15, 2016

Telomere Length: Biomarker of Health

Photo by NHGRI.
Everyone agrees that good health is vital.

However, not everyone agrees on how to achieve good health.

There are a lot of ideas on how to be healthy and how to postpone the ravages of aging.

Similarly, there are a lot of ideas about what biological factors are correlated with healthy aging.

Since the mid 1970s, scientists have isolated a genetic feature called telomeres and argue that their length is correlated with health and longevity.

I don't believe there is one single genetic factor that humans can manipulate in order to ward off all aspects of aging.  However, telomere length is viewed by many as the chief marker for longevity and health.

I'm looking more closely at telomeres length as just one out of eighteen important biomarkers of health and longevity. But I do concede that it's an important one, in part because it's a genetic. Also, it's one of the newer biomarkers on the list. We still have a lot to learn.

This post is part of a series on biomarkers of health and longevity.