34 60 78 青年期（34 歲）、中年晚期（60 歲）和老年期（78 歲）老化變化大。

 Aging is actually more like a rollercoaster than a downhill slope.

We’ve long assumed aging is a steady downhill slide. But a groundbreaking study analyzing over 4,000 human blood samples reveals it’s far more dramatic.

Instead of a gradual decline, researchers found that our bodies undergo three distinct molecular shifts – around young adulthood (age 34), late middle age (age 60) and old age (age 78). These “waves of aging” are marked by sudden, synchronized changes in hundreds of blood proteins that affect everything from the brain and liver to the immune system.

Out of ~3,000 proteins studied, 1,379 changed with age – but not gradually. They spiked or dropped all at once in clustered waves, reshaping our biology in powerful bursts.

Using a subset of 373 proteins, researchers could even predict a person’s age within three years of accuracy. When the test guessed someone younger than they were? They were usually in better health – a possible window into true biological age.

And aging doesn’t look the same for everyone. Men and women age differently at the molecular level, with nearly two-thirds of proteins behaving differently across sexes.

This research could open the door to blood tests for biological age, better tracking of healthspan, and future treatments to slow age-related decline.

老化其實更像是坐雲霄飛車，而非下坡。
我們長期以來一直認為老化是穩定下滑的過程。但一項分析了 4,000 多個人類血液樣本的開創性研究表明，老化過程遠比這更加劇烈。
研究人員發現，我們的身體並非逐漸衰退，而是經歷了三次截然不同的分子轉變——分別發生在青年期（34 歲）、中年晚期（60 歲）和老年期（78 歲）。這些「老化浪潮」以數百种血液蛋白質的突然、同步變化為標誌，這些變化會影響從大腦、肝臟到免疫系統的各個方面。
在研究的約 3,000 種蛋白質中，有 1,379 種會隨著年齡的增長而變化，但並非逐漸變化。它們會以聚集的波動形式突然飆升或下降，以強大的爆發力重塑我們的生物學特性。
使用 373 種蛋白質的子集，研究人員甚至可以預測一個人的年齡，準確度在三年之內。如果測試結果顯示某人比實際年齡小？那麼他們通常更健康——這可能是了解真實生理年齡的窗口。
每個人的老化過程都不一樣。男性和女性在分子層面的老化過程存在差異，近三分之二的蛋白質在不同性別中表現不同。
這項研究或將為透過血液檢測生理年齡、更好地追蹤健康壽命以及未來減緩與年齡相關的衰老的治療方法打開大門。