Lab tests analyze normal, accelerated aging

INTERNATIONAL REPORT — The Gerontology Research Group counts 76 living supercentenarians, those 110 years of age or older. And the oldest documented person indicates the human lifespan actually falls between 122 and 126 years of age. Yet life expectancy in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is 77.7 years. Why the discrepancy?

Bill Anton, B.Sc., Ph.D., chief executive officer of PathLab in Victoria, Australia, and clinical biochemistry research director of Age Diagnostic Laboratories in Boca Raton, Fla, blames gene expression. "In other words, it depends on whether or not you run your aging software at optimal levels," writes Dr. Anton in "Laboratory Tests for the Anti-Aging Physician."

Dr. Anton notes there are two types of aging: normal and accelerated. "The practitioner needs to be able to use various tools to identify if a patient has gone off the rails and needs to be put back onto a normal rate of aging," he says.

Dr. Anton

ANABOLIC OR CATABOLIC? According to Dr. Anton, aging is fundamentally a metabolic process. The basic pillars of aging are inflammation, depletion, and wear and tear. These can manifest in a number of ways, including poor strength, reduced flexibility, poor aerobic ability, digestive disorders, arthritis, accelerated brain aging, coronary heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

"An aging person is more catabolic, which means they're breaking down. A youthful person is more anabolic," Dr. Anton says. Humans generally grow until the age of 40, at which point they begin their decline. During that time, gene and phenotypic expression are impacted by many factors that include diet, lifestyle and environment.

To treat rapidly aging patients, Dr. Anton recommends that physicians look at three main areas: DNA and cellular functioning; system integration and homeostasis; and overall total body homeostasis. But before running any tests, the physician needs to know what he or she is trying to achieve with the patient in question.

CAUSE AND EFFECT Once this goal is known, physicians can then determine which tests are needed to identify the cellular cause of the problem. "Could it be food sensitivities or allergy? Could it be bacterial? Heavy metals? Toxins? Could it even be sexually transmitted disease?" Dr. Anton asks.

Any of these conditions can contribute to the inflammation that accelerates the breakdown process of the body. If the cause can be identified and addressed, it's possible more than one symptom will disappear. "So from that you can define what tests need to be done and what treatments need to be embarked upon," Dr. Anton says. Key areas for anti-aging assessment include the gastrointestinal system, endocrinology, estrogen metabolism, inflammatory pathways and genomics.