Shingles vaccine may help slow biological aging, study finds

• Over the last few years, there has been more talk about how people can slow down or improve their biological age.
• Scientists are currently examining a variety of medications as a way to help slow biological aging.
• A new study says the shingles vaccine may help slow biological aging in older adults.

When a person thinks of aging, they normally think of their chronological age and how many birthdays they’ve had so far.

Over the last few years, there has been more talk about how people can slow down or improve their biological age, which is the health and function age of their bodies on a molecular level.

Previous research shows that several factors can play a role in how quickly a person biologically ages, including genetics, having a chronic disease, diet, stress, sleep, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol use.

“People are living longer and longer, but many spend those extra years managing chronic conditions, disability, and physical and cognitive dysfunction,” Eileen M. Crimmins, PhD, AARP, a professor of gerontology in the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, told Medical News Today.

“Slowing biological aging could help extend not just years of life, but years of ‘healthy life’ — the years people live with better physical and cognitive function. We have shown that the only way to improve the health of the older population and increase healthy life is to intervene early — before people have diseases and disabilities. Identifying things that slow biological aging is important for understanding how we might improve population health at older ages,” Crimmins explained.

Scientists are currently examining a variety of medications as a way to help slow biological aging, such as the type 2 diabetes drug metformin, the immunosuppressant rapamycin, and rilmenidine prescribed for managing blood pressure.

Adding to this research, a new study recently published in the Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences — on which Crimmins is co-author — reports that the shingles vaccine may help slow biological aging in older adults.