While birthdays are worth celebrating, ageing is the single biggest risk factor for the development of diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart attacks, and blindness. Our guest, Dr. Laura Han, Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam University Medical Center, specializes in biological aging, the way our bodies grow older, and connects it to psychiatry. Why? Because people living with mental illness show more signs of bodily wear and tear compared to peers of the same age. Understanding why they deviate from typical age-related biological patterns opens new paths to treatment and prevention. In this episode, we explore the difference between calendar years (chronological age) and biological age, how stress shapes the ageing process, and the growing role of wearables in this research landscape. This conversation offers an intuitive perspective that could reshape how we approach personalized medicine. We hope you enjoy the episode.

What do we discuss?

Chapter 1 (02:12) - Chronological vs. biological age. How do we determine how our body is aging?

Chapter 2 (14:39) - Biological age markers and depression. From anatomical to DNA markers.

Chapter 3 (19:02) - Factors affecting biological ageing and talks of using it in clinical practice.

Chapter 4 (26:28) - Stress and biological ageing.

Chapter 5 (34:16) - Wearables (Garmin, Oura, Fitbit) and their approach to biological age

Want to know more about Laura's work at Amsterdam UMC?https://psychiatryamsterdam.nl/personen/laura-k-m-han/

Credits:

Host: Marcos Ross

Production: Anouk Weverling

Supported by: Myrte Schoenmakers, Carmen van Klaren, Merel van den Berg, Kiera Drake

Music: Marcos Ross