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Health

Most comprehensive picture yet of how organs age at different rates

Our organs don't seem to age at the same rate, which could mean healthy habits are particularly important at certain times of our lives

By Carissa Wong

29 November 2024

Someone’s kidneys could be a decade older, biologically, than their brain

Christian Kitzmuller/Alamy

Our organs appear to age at different rates, with our lungs and kidneys going through a burst of ageing in our 20s, decades before others, such as the uterus. Better understanding how organ ageing varies could help people adopt healthy habits that may be particularly beneficial at certain periods of life.

This isn’t the first time variation in organ ageing has been suggested. In 2022, researchers at the National University of Singapore made a similar finding based on protein molecules in blood.

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