‘We age the day we are born’ McMaster researchers reimagine how we study aging

Scientists in the Faculty of Health Sciences are reimagining the way we think about, and design, research on aging.

Paul O’Byrne, dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences, spoke with Parminder Raina, professor of health research methods, evidence and impact and founding scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), about the aging process and how we define aging.

What is geroscience and how can studying aging from different angles help us live healthier lives as we get older?

Raina, the Canada Research Chair in Geroscience and the lead investigator for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, says research on aging has typically focused on how diseases contribute to the aging process.

“More recently, that thinking has changed because age is one of the major risk factors of diseases,” says Raina.

“Geroscience looks at how the aging process—the biomolecular mechanisms and social mechanisms—actually result in poor health and outcomes,” Raina explains. Adding, “it is looking at this whole phenomenon of aging research from an aging lens, rather than from a disease lens.”

How do you study the way both our genes and environment affect aging?

Raina says there are two slightly different perspectives when considering genetics in relation to the aging process: the longevity gene and the susceptibility gene.

“Twenty-five per cent of the genes contribute to the whole longevity,” says Raina. “Much of the longevity is explained by our experiences: social, physical, environmental and so on.”

“There is a slightly different story in relation to more susceptibility genes that actually focus on specific disease and disease-related outcomes,” he adds.

Raina says it’s the interaction between genes and environment that determines what happens to our lives.

“We can’t blame our parents, as much as we would like to—it is what we do to our bodies that determines how well we live as we age.”

What does this mean for creating personalized plans to help people age well?

“Understanding the biomolecular mechanisms, especially the genetics and epigenetics, can help us understand the tremendous heterogeneity that exists in the aging population,” explains Raina.

“Nobody ages in the same way, so having that understanding, along with the environmental factors, we can start to focus our treatments and management of our patients in a much more precise fashion,” says Raina.

What are some of the biggest challenges in studying aging?

According to Raina, ageism is one of the biggest challenges researchers face.

“Ageism plays a huge role,” says Raina. “We saw that during the pandemic, it was all over the place—how ageism policies resulted in so much harm to older people, especially living in the long-term care sector.”

“Ageism is not a one-way issue,” Raina adds. “Older people are ageist towards other older people. It’s a very complex issue, which affects how we study older people and how our results and our findings impact policy. Clinical care is hindered by ageism.”

How are McMaster researchers impacting the study of aging?

The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging is reimagining how researchers study aging.

“Many of our projects integrate older people and their families into our thinking, so they are actually helping us design research that is relevant to them,” explains Raina.

He adds that another key element of the research being done at MIRA is the focus on interpersonal relationships—how younger people relate with other people and vice versa.

“I think if we are going to move research into practice, having those intergenerational relationships, and them understanding what aging actually means from a development point of view, will help us in the future,” says Raina.

“We don’t age when we turn 65, we age the day we are born.”

Visit MIRA’s website to learn how their researchers are working to optimize the health and longevity of Canada’s aging population through leading-edge research, education and stakeholder collaboration.