
Researchers looked at brain scan data and results from blood tests to search for correlation between certain proteins and brain aging. Image Credit: dem10 via Getty Images
Health ChinaProteins in Our Blood May Tell Us About Our Brain’s Health, Study Finds
A new study has established 13 proteins found in the blood that may be linked to brain ageing.
“In the next couple of decades, this could open up ways to target the proteins to slow aging and disease,” explains the study’s lead author and neurologist at Fudan University in Shanghai, Wei-Shi Liu.
Chinese neurologists worked together to investigate what proteins in our blood could be linked to the age of the brain, regardless of an individual’s actual age. Three thousand proteins were monitored in total, eight linked to fast brain ageing and five linked to slow ageing. This work could eventually be instrumental when, for example, an individual has a large gap between their actual age and their “brain” age, allowing for more targeted approaches and earlier interventions. However, the research is too recent and has too many potential errors – such as a lack of diverse ethnicities and income levels – to make any conclusions. Still, researchers are hopeful it could eventually lead to better treatment plans for age-related diseases.