When it comes to aging, most of us don’t want to hear that it is like falling off a cliff. But research from Stanford Medicine suggests that there are 2 major molecular shifts in our bodies around the ages of 44 and 60.

“This study, they took billions of measurements. They measured blood, urine and stool. They had an actigraph on people, they had them fill out questionnaires and they followed people for an average of about 2 years. Over those short periods of times, these biological measurements changed in individuals, and they thought that there were clear peaks at these different ages. What I'm concerned about is, were there enough people involved? There were about 108 people. There are other studies that look at thousands of people, and we should be cautious about extrapolating from 108 people,” says Bruce Troen, MD, director of the Landon Center on Aging.

In fact, experts from the health system and the University of Kansas School of Medicine, encouraged caution when interpreting these study results.

“I'm not sure all those measurements really are directly related to how people feel or how they function,” says Dr. Troen. “Most people don't think that all of a sudden they've stopped being able to do something just over the past year or 2. So while biochemically and molecularly, we might have these changes, it's not quite clear what that means for us as we move forward in our functional capacity.”

Additionally, because the study looked at people for a couple of years, versus a couple of decades, there could be injuries, illnesses or life changes that are making it appear like there is a burst of aging.

“Are these truly abrupt changes or are we getting a snapshot of changes that are more progressive?” asks Dr. Troen. “It's hard to tease apart some of the illnesses that many of us encounter as we get older as opposed to normal aging.”

“I think there are a lot of life changes that happen at those times for a lot of people, and maybe that could impact how people are living their lives,” says Jessica Kalender-Rich, MD, associate chief of geriatrics and medical director of Post-Acute Continuum of Care at the health system. “I see a lot of people in this 40 to 60 range that are called the sandwich generation, where they're caring for parents or older adults around them, and they're caring for young people. So, they're really stretched thin, and now they can't find the time to do a lot of these (healthy lifestyle) things.”

Regardless of the causes or rate of aging, it is happening to all of us.

Source: https://www.kansashealthsystem.com/news-room/blog/2025/10/ways-to-slow-down-aging