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Category: Bioclock

  • The Psychology Behind Health Messaging

    With so many medical and social studies conducted on human health, we already know what we should be doing to maximise our healthspan and our overall longevity. However, we all also know that most of us are pretty bad about putting this advice into practice. A significant amount of research has come to the overwhelming conclusion that us human beings do not always act in a way that benefits our best, more long-term interests.

    Simply, humans are not wholly rational agents… and, arguably, it’s what makes us human! So, academia has now moved past simply reporting on what the best choices for us are- and instead is now focusing on how best to promote these findings to a public that is fatigued of such health warnings. In this blog post we’ll be examining some of the psychology behind health messaging and providing you with some actionable tools on how to make your own healthier choices.

    The Psychology Behind Health Messaging

    Before we can examine the psychology of health messaging in general, we first need to explore what ‘loss-based’ and ‘gain-based’ messaging is. This terminology has been noted upon by Brian Wansink and Lizzy Pope, two Cornell and Vermont University researchers that have studied the nuances of official public health communications.

    Loss-based messaging is the medium by which the public are informed that they are harming themselves in the long-run by not meeting the recommendations of health studies (such as quitting smoking or drinking less). In the past, public health messaging has focused around loss-based messaging- the print of ‘Smoking Harms You And Those Around You’ on cigarette packets is one such example.

    On the other hand, gain-based messaging is the packaging of the act of making healthier choices into a value-add proposition to someone’s life. For example, instead of scaring an individual into quitting smoking through negativity, a gain-based message could state something along the lines of ‘For every pack of cigarettes you don’t smoke, you will live a few days longer’. The efficacy of this route has, in part, been illustrated over recent years through the proliferation of vaping as opposed to smoking. Vaping does still carry significantly negative health implications- but it has been marketed to the population of the UK as being ‘95% better for you than smoking’ (a claim backed by the National Health Service).

    Wansink and Pope, in their study, have remarked that public health officials and experts prefer loss-based health messages- while a majority of the public responds markedly better to gain-based messages. This ties into basic human psychology. A study into the American education system found that students who felt threatened by the messages perpetuated by their teachers around failing were more likely to fail than students whose teachers did not believe in such scare tactics. Simply, if we tell someone who is already struggling (be this to do with weight, schooling or almost anything else) that they are failing then they will be considerably more likely to continue failing. [1]

    A Little Nudge

    As a result of the research mentioned above, some countries and companies have begun efforts to ‘nudge’ citizens in a healthier direction. The aim of this is to enable but educate citizens to make informed choices, the benefits of which are highlighted over the negatives of their current behaviour. These nudge efforts can also incentivise the public through a variety of means that stretch far beyond promising health further down the line.

    The aim of nudging the public to make healthier choices is centered around the idea that we all already know what to do- we simply don’t do it.

    This can be because we’re demotivated because of loss-based messaging or because we just don’t feel like making the healthy choice at that time. The latter is fine, but the former needs to be addressed. Because of this, a key tenet of ‘nudging’ citizens to make a healthier choice is based around ‘enabling but educating’ and presenting choices wrapped in gain-based messaging. This allows people the freedom to make their own choices about choices that may affect their health but also empowers them to make an informed decision, free of psychological stress.

    As more and more governments begin to realise that scare-tactics do not work- we’ll be more likely to see health initiatives that reward/cajole rather than scold the public. Further, by applying gain-based psychology to our own choices, we can nudge ourselves toward healthier habits too.

    Two Tools to Help Make Healthier Choices

    The commonly cited, health official approved, four steps to living healthily are (generally);

    • Not smoking.
    • Drinking less aclohol, well within medically recommended limits.
    • Being physically active for at least 30 minutes a day.
    • Eating decent portions (5 servings) of fruit and vegetables a day.

    Now, most of the population will probably struggle to meet the above, let alone exceed it (where applicable). However, as mentioned above, we can strive to meet and exceed these healthy goals through a combination of switching our perspective and putting together a plan to meet them.

    Through switching our perspective, we can move to a gain-based lifestyle which will provide us with a more positive relationship with our health and improving it. Look at each health recommendation and, if you aren’t meeting it, instead of feeling bad about the potential adverse effects on your health and you not meeting these goals, instead visualise that each positive health decision you make will enable you to live a longer life with a longer period free of any major health conditions.

    When you couple this with a long-term plan to build healthy habits into your life- by layering each new routine or habit over a protracted period- you’ll be much more likely to enjoy the benefits of healthy living and stick with them. I’m sure we’ve all been inspired to get healthy at various times in our lives… and I’m sure we’ve all took on too much at once and suffered some whiplash at how hard all of these new routines are to maintain and eventually abandoned the entire idea. Instead, take a more measured approach, look at your choices in a more positive light and celebrate your progress.

    In Closing

    In the near future we’ll see smarter campaigns based around public health- campaigns that don’t try to shame or scare us into making healthier choices. However, the academic research into the psychology of making healthy choices hasn’t yet filtered into public policy. Instead, in the interim, we can use the psychology of ‘gain-based’ messaging ourselves to affect our own behaviour in the day to day. By striving toward a more positive relationship with our health and making healthy choices we can make progress toward our health and longevity goals without seeing these decisions in a negative light or ignoring them entirely. This, combined with careful and deliberate strategizing how we can gradually build good habits into our daily lives will ensure that we don’t start a health kick and then gradually kick it away.

    NOMIX will soon announce some exciting news that will definitely help keep you on top of your health goals- and allow you to act with longevity in mind.

    Make sure to watch this space! To be one of the first to hear, make sure to check this blog and follow NOMIX on Twitter, LinkedIn and Telegram.

    [1] Kang, O’Donnell, Strecher, Falk. Dispositional Mindfullness Predicts Adaptive Affective Responses to Health Messages and Increased Exercise Motivation, 2016.

  • Molecular Biologist Nicklas Brendborg Joins NOMIX As Advisor

    We are happy to announce that Molecular Biologist Nicklas Brendborg, University of Copenhagen, has joined NOMIX as Medical Scientific Advisor! Nicklas will support the team in building longevity algorithms used by the BIOCLOCK app, based on CODIS, the Collective Digital Immune System.

    Nicklas Brendborg is a Ph.D. student of molecular biology at the University of Copenhagen and is one of the most promising research talents in the field. He was featured young scientist at the Novo Nordisk International Talent Program and was awarded the Novo Scholarship.

    In his actual bestseller Jellyfish Age Backwards, Nicklas describes nature’s secrets to Longevity, how plants and animals have already unlocked the secrets to immortality, and the lessons they hold for us humans. Although modern humans live longer today than ever before, our understanding of what is possible is limited. Nicklas uses Jellyfish and other animals to reveal the key to immortality which might not be as impossible as we all have thought until yesterday.

    Even if you can’t follow Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin who envisions a 75% chance to see the year 3,000 for someone who is born today, or you happen not to be a 500-year-old Greenland shark, reading the NOMIX blog you probably want to live long while staying young and healthy! Then, you most likely will love Jellyfish Age Backwards, and the fact that Nicklas has joined our longevity team, even more!

    Now, let’s celebrate the fantastic success of Nicklas’ book for a moment and then start working on our healthspans!

     

  • A Primer on Epigenetic/Biological Clocks

    We’ve all done our share of clock-watching in our daily lives, whether it be anxiously waiting for a flight or impatiently waiting until we finish work. It may therefore be unsurprising that doctors and medical researchers do the same thing… but what may surprise you is the type of clock that they’re doggedly watching.

    These medical professionals aren’t watching any old clock, no, they’re watching the body’s internal clock, otherwise known as the epigenetic, or biological clock. In this blog post, we’ll be exploring the concept of the epigenetic clock- otherwise known as the biological clock- and we’ll cover what they are, how they work, and, most importantly, what questions they can answer.

    So what are epigenetic/biological clocks?

    It sounds strange, but people can be a different age from someone the same age as them. In short, your chronological age is different from your biological age. For example, someone can chronologically be 46 (i.e. they have lived on Earth for 46 years) and they can possess a biological age of, say, 54. How does this happen? Well, some people age quicker than others due, largely, to lifestyle factors. This is because factors such as our daily stress, the amount of sleep we get, and our diet all impact how our body functions. So, epigenetic clocks are indicators that have been developed over the last decade by doctors to gauge someone’s biological age (‘bioage’) or inner age.

    The first (and best known) biological clock was developed by Dr. Steve Horvath in 2013. Back in 2011, he and his twin brother had participated in a study examining epigenetic markers in saliva. When analyzing the data, he found that DNA methylation (more on this later) could predict a person’s age in years, with a variance of roughly five years on average. Naturally, Dr. Horvath realized that this had massive ramifications for the measuring of the body’s internal biological age.[1]

    There are now ten biological clocks measuring how humans age, ranging from the Horvath clock to DNAm PhenoAge, and there are hundreds more used for other purposes. For example, the DNAm PhenoAge clock determines phenotypic age, which, in essence, judges that you are 9% more likely to develop a serious illness for each year you are older than you are chronological.[2]  

    In short, epigenetic clocks are medical yardsticks that have recently been developed for the purpose of measuring our biological age and our overall risk of mortality.

    So how do they work?

    The exact methodology and metrics tracked behind each clock can vary, but the principle remains largely the same. Some of them have even been developed using DNA data sets to develop a neural network that is then fed through a deep learning program to determine which sets of methylated DNA contribute to biological aging.[3] Very cutting-edge stuff!

    As mentioned above methylated DNA is the cause of biological aging, despite the methodology behind the development of the clock, but why is this the case? Methylation, in a chemical sense, is the adding of a methyl group of atoms to a molecule. This changes how the proteins of the molecule interact with other proteins, which in turn impact how the molecule interacts with other molecules. Our DNA is governed by an epigenome- essentially a biological controller of how our genes ‘express’ themselves.

    The only difference between a liver cell and a brain neuron is that this epigenome tells these genes which job to do by ‘turning off’ certain pre-programmed functions. However, as mentioned above, as our DNA naturally becomes more methylated over the course of our lives these genes begin to change how they interact with their surrounding genes… and this contributes to aging and, sometimes, our risk of illness.

    This methylation occurs naturally as we age but it can also depend largely upon our lifestyle. If someone smokes heavily, for example, then certain genes will become highly methylated while others will conversely become less so. Stress, heavy drinking, a bad diet, and a lack of sleep- all similarly impact our DNA methylation levels.

    What can biological clocks be used for in the future?

    A significant amount of research still needs to be done in this field, as questions remain. However, a number of studies have emerged that suggest DNA methylation can be managed. Unlike a chronological clock, the good news is that it seems possible that the biological clock can turn back time. A clinical trial comprised of randomized individuals found that, according to the Horvath clock, individuals on the trial who lived a healthy lifestyle were 3.23 years younger than those in the control group.[4] This trial is the first that has demonstrated that we can reverse biological aging through living a healthy lifestyle (in the study, moderate exercise, breathing exercises for stress, and a diet rich in methyl donor nutrients and polyphenols were all assigned to those participants, not in the control group).

    Another study has found that there is a correlation between a high BMI and older biological age.[5] A further study found that eating a Mediterranean-style diet, with a particular amount of olive oil and nuts, reversed methylation of the body’s intermediate metabolism, diabetes, inflammation, and signal transduction.[6] Definitely a case for moving to that part of the world!

    Epigenetic clocks are already, increasingly, being used to accurately gauge an individual’s likelihood of falling ill (such as the DNAm Phenoage) and also as a gauge as to how we can mitigate that risk by demonstrating, using hard data, the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle (such as the 3.23 gain mentioned above). When presenting individuals with the fact that they will be younger by a demonstratable margin, they will be more motivated to make healthier choices because the benefits of those choices will just be so much more tangible.

    As the science of developing epigenetic clocks becomes more advanced, it is likely that even more accurate and wide-ranging figures can be provided to the public. Imagine a world where cigarette packets have an exact figure of how many days or weeks people are, on average, aging themselves per pack- it may not be that far away!

    In closing

    The development of epigenetic clocks is a very promising development in the biomedical field that solves a problem that has plagued the field for decades- how to measure biological aging. These epigenetic clocks also present future benefits to the wider public as they can illustrate to us just how beneficial our healthy choices are… and how detrimental our less healthy choices can be.

    If you’re interested in how an app may work that could help you track how these choices are benefitting you, then click here.

    Otherwise, for more interesting posts about biomedicine and longevity, make sure to keep checking this blog and sign up for our socials, Twitter and Telegram.

    [1] Horvath, S., “DNA methylation age of human tissues and cell types”. Genome Biol. 2013;14(10).

    [2] Levine, Morgan E et al. “An epigenetic biomarker of aging for lifespan and healthspan.” Aging vol. 10,4 (2018): 573-591.

    [3] de Lima Camillo, L.P., Lapierre, L.R. & Singh, R. A pan-tissue DNA-methylation epigenetic clock based on deep learning. NPJ Aging 8, 4 (2022).

    [4] Fitzgerald KN, Hodges R, Hanes D, Stack E, Cheishvili D, Szyf M, Henkel J, Twedt MW, Giannopoulou D, Herdell J, Logan S, Bradley R., “Potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention: a pilot randomized clinical trial”. Aging (Albany NY). 2021

    [5] Quach A, Levine ME, Tanaka T, Lu AT, Chen BH, Ferrucci L, Ritz B, Bandinelli S, Neuhouser ML, Beasley JM, Snetselaar L, Wallace RB, Tsao PS, Absher D, Assimes TL, Stewart JD, Li Y, Hou L, Baccarelli AA, Whitsel EA, Horvath S., “Epigenetic clock analysis of diet, exercise, education, and lifestyle factors”. Aging (Albany NY). 2017 Feb 14;9(2).

    [6] Arpón A, Milagro FI, Razquin C, Corella D, Estruch R, Fitó M, Marti A, Martínez-González MA, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, Riezu-Boj JI, Martínez JA. Impact of Consuming Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts within a Mediterranean Diet on DNA Methylation in Peripheral White Blood Cells within the PREDIMED-Navarra Randomized Controlled Trial: A Role for Dietary Lipids. Nutrients. 2017 Dec 23;10(1):15.