‘Body clock’ could determine biological age and longevity, researchers say

Researchers have developed a new “body clock” tool that calculates people’s biological age — and could even predict the risk of disability or death.

The tool, which comes from the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, uses eight different metrics from a patient’s physical exam and bloodwork to determine the results, according to a press release from UW.

The tool’s method — officially named the Health Octo Tool — is detailed in the journal Nature Communication in a May 5 publication.

The researchers see this method as more comprehensive than current health assessments, which typically focus on individual diseases rather than overall wellness, according to the report’s first author, Dr. Shabnam Salimi, a physician-scientist and acting instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine at UW.

Using data from large longevity studies, the Health Octo Tool was found to predict disability, geriatric syndrome (a group of common health conditions in older adults), Short Physical Performance Battery (a clinical tool that assesses lower extremity function in older adults) and mortality with 90% accuracy or greater, the study reported.

“An aging-based framework offers a new path to discover biomarkers and therapeutics that target organ-specific or whole-body aging, rather than individual diseases,” Salimi said in the release.

The tool focuses on “health entropy,” which encompasses the amount of molecular and cellular damage the body has sustained over time.

That has a direct impact on the function of a person’s organs and overall body systems, which can be used to determine how fast they are aging, the researchers noted.

The tool starts by assigning a “body organ disease number,” ranging from 1 to 14, based on whether the patient has experienced any diseases affecting the heart, lungs, brain or other specific organ systems.

“Our findings demonstrated that organ systems age at different rates, prompting us to develop a Bodily System-Specific Age metric to reflect the aging rate of each organ system and the Bodily-Specific Clock to represent each organ system’s intrinsic biological age,” Salimi said. 

“Extending this concept to the whole body, we define the Body Clock as a composite measure of overall intrinsic age and body age as the corresponding rate of aging.”

Two of the components of the tool, Speed-Body Clock and Speed-Body Age, measure how biological age affects walking speed.

The Disability-Body Clock and Disability-Body Age components measure aging’s impact on cognitive function and physical disability, the release stated.

One takeaway from the research was that some seemingly minor conditions, such as untreated hypertension early in life, could have a significant impact on aging in later years, according to Salimi.

This indicates that treating these conditions sooner could slow down biological aging.

Looking ahead, the researchers plan to develop a digital app that people can use to track their own biological age, track how fast they are aging, and measure the impact of lifestyle changes.

“Whether someone is adopting a new diet, exercise routine or taking longevity-targeting drugs, they will be able to visualize how their body — and each organ system — is responding,” said Salimi.

Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurosurgeon who also runs a longevity practice, was not involved in the tool’s development, but commented on its potential benefits and limitations.

“This tool distinguishes itself by basing its model on readily accessible physical exam findings and standard lab tests, offering a potentially practical framework for clinical application,” he told Fox News Digital. 

“An app is also being developed to empower patients and potentially encourage the development of health habits that will positively impact their healthspan — or how long they will remain functional and disease-free.”

The doctor also praised the Octo Tool’s focus on system-based aging metrics rather than disease-specific assessments.

Osborn noted, however, that there are limitations to these types of proposed biological aging clocks — primarily that they can’t counter the “inherent complexity of aging.”

“Aging is not a linear or wholly quantifiable process — it is influenced by myriad known and unknown genetic, molecular, environmental and psychosocial factors,” the doctor said.

“It is a truly ‘analog’ and ‘non–digital’ process. Therefore, it should be no surprise that no model has captured its entire landscape.”

UW’s tool doesn’t take into account certain genetic and DNA processes that influence biological aging, Osborn noted.

“Aging clocks have also often fallen short when applied across diverse populations or when predicting individual outcomes (lifespan),” he added.

Rather than determining absolute biological age, Osborn suggests using these tools to track trends over time.

“For example, tools like the Health Octo can help evaluate an individual’s response to interventions — be it a new exercise regimen, medication or lifestyle change.” 

The most important thing, according to Osborn, is to use comprehensive testing and tracking as a springboard to the formation of lifelong health habits. 

“If it saves one person’s life by bringing their ailing health (manifested as a downward trend) to their attention, that’s a win,” he said.

The research was supported by a National Institutes of Health grant from the U.S. National Institute on Aging.