Accelerated ageing syndrome: what is it and why we should know about it

Before discussing the topic, first, we have to know that what is chronological age and Biological age.

Chronological age is the number of years a person has been alive, while biological age refers to how old a person seems.

Biological age also referred to as physiological age, takes many lifestyle factors into a consideration including diet, exercise and sleeping habits and so on.

Ageing is a normal physiological process that our body goes through as the years pass by. The problem comes when this process is accelerated and changes start taking place faster and hence we age faster. Chronological age is our age in years as per the birth rate. Physiological age is our age according to the body’s functional activity. More than physiological age as compared to chronological age, the worst is the condition of our body.

The accelerated age syndrome suggests the number of units in year excess/ less than chronological age.

The following factors are correlated with chronological age to arrive at the physiological or body age.

1) Respiratory problems

2) Insufficient lung capacity

3) Poor cardiac status

4) High blood pressure

5) Diabetes

6) Cholesterol

7) Poor cancer risk status

8) Insufficient activity levels

9) Stress level

10) Body fat ratio

11) Alcohol status

12) Smoking

13) Medication

14) Exercise impairment

Positive factors are such as good respiratory status, low cardiac risk, no medical contraindications, high activity, good fitness levels and stress levels etc. Thus, chronological age plus or minus the above factors equals physiological age. So we must know how to manage and improve all negative factors to accumulate a large number of positive factors.

Factors which increase 1 year each is:

1) Respiratory ailments

2) Have/ had cardiac problems

3) Elevated/ low blood pressure

4) Insufficient lung capacity

5) High body fat

6) Sedentary/ no exercise

7) Smoking

8) Elevated/ low sugar levels

9) Drug/ medication dependent

10) Insufficient spinal flexibility

11) Poor in alcohol

12) Stress

Factors that decrease 1 unit year each is:

1) Good BP without medication

2) Good blood sugar levels without medication

3) Good blood lipid levels without medication

4) Good body weight

5) Exercise and Yoga daily

6) Good lung capacity

7) Good spinal flexibility

8) No Psychosomatic stress

9) No eye/ ear problem

Each factor increasing as well as decreasing age is given weightage of 1 unit year.

Thus, Physiological age or accelerated age will not be less than Chronological age if exiting Chronological age is below 21 years of age. For others, minimal Physiological age is set at 21 years.