A new study has found that younger people show measurably higher biological ages than older generations at the same chronological age.

A new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis provides evidence that younger generations are indeed aging faster biologically than their older counterparts. The causes remain under investigation around the world, including global efforts led by research members of Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, and Cancer Grand Challenges, a global initiative co-founded by the National Cancer Institute and Cancer Research U.K.; but importantly, the new research links this accelerated aging to an increased risk of early-onset cancers in younger generations. In general, early-onset cancers are those diagnosed at age 55 or younger.

The larger the gap between biological age — that is, how old our bodies appear to be — and chronological age — which is how many years we have actually lived — the higher the cancer risk, according to the researchers. They found that people in more recent birth cohorts had larger age gaps than those in older birth cohorts, which may help explain the rise in early-onset cancer in recent generations.

Their study also identified links between faster aging in particular organ systems and increased risks for certain cancers. For instance, an immune system that appears older than its actual age was associated with early-onset lung cancer. Similarly, fat tissue that appears older than its chronological age was associated with early-onset colorectal cancer.

The understanding of the molecular and cellular basis of aging has grown exponentially over recent years, and it is now accepted within the scientific community that aging is a malleable process; just as it can be accelerated, it can also be slowed and even reversed. This has far-reaching implications for our attitude and approach toward aging, presenting the opportunity to enter a new era of cellular regenerative medicine to not only manage the external signs of aging but also to develop therapies that support the body to repair and restore itself back to a state of internal well-being. A wealth of evidence now demonstrates that a decline in cellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a feature of aging and may play a role in the process. NAD+ plays a pivotal role in cellular metabolism and is a co-substrate for enzymes that play key roles in pathways that modify aging.

Learn more about how younger generations are now aging faster than their parents and grandparents, and how this aging gap could explain the rise in early-onset cancers.

She says she reversed 20 years of biological aging by testing gene therapy on her own body before anyone else. In this episode of The 200 Year Life Project, Gary Leland sits down with Elizabeth Parrish, founder and CEO of BioViva, the first person to undergo gene therapy specifically aimed at reversing aging.

Gary, 71 and dead serious about reaching 200, talks with Parrish about how telomere and myostatin gene therapy works, what her published telomere data showed, why these therapies are still done outside the US, and how she believes affordable gene therapy could change human lifespan and healthspan. They also get into longevity escape velocity, the \.