Mortality is Written on the Face

Approaches in line with human physiology to prevent skin aging

Skin aging is a complex process that is influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic factors that impact the skin's protective functions and overall health. As the body's outermost layer, the skin plays a critical role in defending it against external threats, regulating body temperature, providing tactile sensation, and synthesizing vitamin D for bone health, immune function, and body homeostasis. However, as individuals age, the skin undergoes structural and functional changes, leading to impairments in these essential functions. In contemporary society, there is an increasing recognition of skin health as a significant indicator of overall wellbeing, resulting in a growing demand for anti-aging products and treatments. However, these products often have limitations in terms of safety, effective skin penetration, and potential systemic complications. To address these concerns, researchers are now focusing on approaches that are safer and better aligned with physiology of the skin. These approaches include adopting a proper diet and maintaining healthy lifestyle habits, the development of topical treatments that synchronize with the skin's circadian rhythm, utilizing endogenous antioxidant molecules, such as melatonin and natural products like polyphenols. Moreover, exploring alternative compounds for sun protection, such as natural ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing compounds, can offer safer options for shielding the skin from harmful radiation. Researchers are currently exploring the potential of adipose-derived stem cells, cell-free blood cell secretome (BCS) and other endogenous compounds for maintaining skin health. These approaches are more secure and more effective alternatives which are in line with human physiology to tackle skin aging. By emphasizing these innovative strategies, it is possible to develop effective treatments that not only slow down the skin aging process but also align better with the natural physiology of the skin. This review will focus on recent research in this field, highlighting the potential of these treatments as being safer and more in line with the skin's physiology in order to combat the signs of aging.

Bazi Bushen alleviates skin senescence by orchestrating skin homeostasis in SAMP6 mice

Bazi Bushen, a Chinese-patented drug with the function of relieving fatigue and delaying ageing, has been proven effective for extenuating skin senescence. To investigate the potential mechanism, senescence-accelerated mouse prone 6 (SAMP6) was intragastrically administered with Bazi Bushen for 9 weeks to induce skin homeostasis. Skin homeostasis is important in mitigating skin senescence, and it is related to many factors such as oxidative stress, SASP, apoptosis, autophagy and stem cell. In our study, skin damage in SAMP6 mice was observed using HE, Masson and SA-β-gal staining. The content of hydroxyproline and the activities of SOD, MDA, GSH-PX and T-AOC in the skin were measured using commercial assay kits. The level of SASP factors (IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, MMP2 and MMP9) in skin were measured using ELISA kits. The protein expressions of p16, p21, p53, Bax, Bcl-2, Cleaved caspase-3, LC3, p62, Beclin1, OCT4, SOX2 and NANOG were measured by western blotting. The expression of ITGA6 and COL17A1 was measured by immunofluorescence staining and western blotting. Our findings demonstrated that Bazi Bushen alleviated skin senescence by orchestrating skin homeostasis, reducing the level of oxidative stress and the expression of SASP, regulating the balance of apoptosis and autophagy and enhancing the protein expressions of ITGA6 and COL17A1 to improve skin structure in SAMP6 mice. This study indicated that Bazi Bushen could serve as a potential therapy for alleviating skin senescence.

Perception gap of aged facial appearance; self-perception is younger than actual status due to angle of viewing

BACKGROUND

Facial morphology changes with aging, resulting in an aged appearance that is a great matter of concern for people. However, it is not clear whether people perceive their own facial appearance accurately, in part because there are few methods to evaluate this.

AIM

The aim of this study is firstly to establish an evaluation system for the perception gap of aged facial appearance between the self-perceived status and the actual status, and then to use this evaluation system to quantify the perception gap and to clarify the mechanism of this gap METHOD: Thirty-six middle-aged female volunteers were first asked to rate their facial aging-related morphology according to a 6-grade set of photos taken at a 45° angle from the front showing progressive stages of sagging severity, without looking either in a mirror or at photos of themselves (self- or "subjective" perception). Then they were shown photos of their face taken at a 45° angle from the front, and asked again to rate their sagging grade based on these photos ("objective" rating). In addition, facial photos taken from several angles from the front to the side were evaluated for sagging severity by trained evaluators.

RESULTS

This system for analyzing perception gap revealed that the self-perception of aged appearance was significantly younger than the actual situation in three facial areas, namely the cheek, around the eyes and the facial contour, and the gap corresponded to an age difference of as much as 8 years in middle-aged females. Trained evaluators found that the severity of sagging judged from photos taken from a frontal direction was significantly less than in photos of the same subject taken from side angles. This suggests that recognition of sagging is more difficult from the front, which is the direction from which people view their own face in daily life. Indeed, viewing photos taken from the side, a rare viewing angle of one's own face, increased the motivation to improve aged appearance in more than 70% of the subjects in a questionnaire survey.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that people perceive their own facial appearance as less aged than it actually is. The reason for this appears to be that viewing from the front, the usual viewing angle of one's own face in daily life, results in lower perceived sagging severity, likely due to reduced depth perception.

Younger facial looks are associate with a lower likelihood of several age-related morbidities in the middle-aged to elderly

BACKGROUND

Looking older for one's chronological age is associated with a higher mortality rate. Yet it remains unclear how perceived facial age relates to morbidity and the degree to which facial ageing reflects systemic ageing of the human body.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the association between ΔPA and age-related morbidities of different organ systems, where ΔPA represents the difference between perceived age (PA) and chronological age.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional analysis on data from the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study in the Netherlands. High-resolution facial photographs of 2679 men and women aged 51.5-87.8 years of European descent were used to assess PA. PA was estimated and scored in 5-year categories using these photographs by a panel of men and women who were blinded for chronological age and medical history. A linear mixed model was used to generate the mean PAs. The difference between the mean PA and chronological age was calculated (ΔPA), where a higher (positive) ΔPA means that the person looks younger for their age and a lower (negative) ΔPA that the person looks older. ΔPA was tested as a continuous variable for association with ageing-related morbidities including cardiovascular, pulmonary, ophthalmological, neurocognitive, renal, skeletal and auditory morbidities in separate regression analyses, adjusted for age and sex (model 1) and additionally for body mass index, smoking and sun exposure (model 2).

RESULTS

We observed 5-year higher ΔPA (i.e. looking younger by 5 years for one's age) to be associated with less osteoporosis [odds ratio (OR) 0.76, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.62-0.93], less chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.95), less age-related hearing loss (model 2; B = -0.76, 95% CI -1.35 to -0.17) and fewer cataracts (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.73-0.97), but with better global cognitive functioning (g-factor; model 2; B = 0.07, 95% CI 0.04-0.10).

CONCLUSIONS

PA is associated with multiple morbidities and better cognitive function, suggesting that systemic ageing and cognitive ageing are, to an extent, externally visible in the human face.

Perceived Age as a Mortality and Comorbidity Predictor: A Systematic Review

INTRODUCTION

Perceived age is defined as how old a person looks to external evaluators. It reflects the underlying biological age, which is a measure based on physical and physiological parameters reflecting a person's aging process more accurately than chronological age. People with a higher biological age have shorter lives compared to those with a lower biological age with the same chronological age. Our review aims to find whether increased perceived age is a risk factor for overall mortality risk or comorbidities.

METHODS

A literature search of three databases was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines for studies analyzing perceived age or isolated facial characteristics of old age and their relationship to mortality risk or comorbidity outcomes. Data on the number of patients, type and characteristics of evaluation methods, evaluator characteristics, mean chronologic age, facial characteristics studied, measured outcomes, and study results were collected.

RESULTS

Out of 977 studies, 15 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. These studies found an increase in mortality risk of 6-51% in older-looking people compared to controls (HR 1.06-1.51, p < 0.05). In addition, perceived age and some facial characteristics of old age were also associated with cardiovascular risk and myocardial infarction, cognitive function, bone mineral density, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

CONCLUSION

Perceived age promises to be a clinically useful predictor of overall mortality and cardiovascular, pulmonary, cognitive, and osseous comorbidities.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Perceived Age in Patients Exposed to Distinct UV Indexes: A Systematic Review

Photodamage is caused by chronic sun exposure and ultraviolet radiation and presents as wrinkles, sagging, and pigmented spots. An increase in the ultraviolet index can increase a person's perceived age by worsening skin photodamage. However, since the ultraviolet index varies considerably between geographical regions, perceived age might vary substantially among them. This review aims to describe the differences in chronological and perceived age in regions of the world with different ultraviolet indexes. A literature search of three databases was conducted for studies analyzing perceived age and its relationship to sun exposure. Ultraviolet indexes from the included studies were retrieved from the National Weather Service and the Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service. Out of 104 studies, seven fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Overall, 3,352 patients were evaluated for perceived age. All studies found that patients with the highest daily sun exposures had the highest perceived ages for their chronological age (p < 0.05). People with high sun exposure behaviors living in regions with high ultraviolet indexes will look significantly older than same-aged peers living in lower ultraviolet index regions.

Study on the correlation of high expression level of HuD with seborrheic keratosis and skin aging

BACKGROUND

Currently, most studies of ELAV (Embryonic Lethal, Abnormal Vision, Drosophila)-like protein 4 (Hu antigen D, HuD) focus on nervous system-related diseases; the role of HuD in the occurrence of skin aging and seborrheic keratosis (SK) has not been reported.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the role of HuD in the occurrence of SK and skin aging and its related clinical significance.

METHODS

The expression levels of HuD in the skin and blood of healthy people at different ages, SK lesions, and perilesional skin of SK patients were detected by both immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The mRNA expression levels of HuD in the skin and blood of healthy peoples at different ages were detected by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The expression level of HuD was compared with the skin of healthy people, SK lesion, and perilesional skin of SK patients of the same age.

RESULTS

The immunohistochemistry and Western blotting showed that the expression levels of HuD in SK lesions were higher than those in healthy skin and perilesional skin. The immunohistochemical staining intensity, protein and mRNA expression levels of HuD in the skin and blood of healthy people were correlated with age, which gradually increased with increasing age.

CONCLUSION

HuD is highly expressed in SK lesion and aged skin, indicating that a higher HuD expression level is correlated with occurrence of SK and aging skin; however, its mechanism needs to be further studied.

Antiaging Mechanism of Natural Compounds: Effects on Autophagy and Oxidative Stress

Aging is a natural biological process that manifests as the progressive loss of function in cells, tissues, and organs. Because mechanisms that are meant to promote cellular longevity tend to decrease in effectiveness with age, it is no surprise that aging presents as a major risk factor for many diseases such as cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and diabetes. Oxidative stress, an imbalance between the intracellular antioxidant and overproduction of reactive oxygen species, is known to promote the aging process. Autophagy, a major pathway for protein turnover, is considered as one of the hallmarks of aging. Given the progressive physiologic degeneration and increased risk for disease that accompanies aging, many studies have attempted to discover new compounds that may aid in the reversal of the aging process. Here, we summarize the antiaging mechanism of natural or naturally derived synthetic compounds involving oxidative stress and autophagy. These compounds include: 2-cyano-3,12-dioxoolean-1,9-dien-28-oic acid (CDDO) derivatives (synthetic triterpenoids derived from naturally occurring oleanolic acid), caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, the active ingredient in honey bee propolis), xanthohumol (a prenylated flavonoid identified in the hops plant), guggulsterone (a plant steroid found in the resin of the guggul plant), resveratrol (a natural phenol abundantly found in grape), and sulforaphane (a sulfur-containing compound found in cruciferous vegetables).

Perceived facial age and biochemical indicators of glycemia in adult men and women

Glycemia is linked with one of the key mechanisms underlying the aging process and inter-individual differences in biological age. Previous research showed that glucose level is linked with perceived age in elder individuals. This study aimed to verify if glycemia is related to perceived facial age in healthy adult individuals as interventions in younger and healthy cohorts are crucial for preventing the onset of age-related diseases. The study sample consisted of 116 healthy men of mean age 35.53 ± 3.54 years (29.95–44.29) and 163 healthy women of mean age 28.38 ± 2.40 (24.25–34.17) years. Glycemia was evaluated by fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, and glycated hemoglobin level. BMI, facial sexual dimorphism, estradiol, testosterone, and hsCRP levels were controlled. Perceived age was evaluated based on standardized facial photos in an online survey. Additionally perceived facial aging was calculated as a difference between perceived age and chronological age. No relationship between the levels of biochemical indicators of glycemia and perceived facial age or aging was found both in men and women, also when controlled for possible confounders. This study shows that perceived facial age in adult individuals is rather linked with body adiposity of sexual dimorphism but not with glycemic markers.

Modulating effects of oral administration of Lycii Fructus extracts on UVB‑induced skin erythema: A Randomized, placebo‑controlled study

Severe UV exposure induces skin inflammation, causing erythema. Lycii Fructus (Lycium barbarum and Lycium chinense) is a potential antioxidant agent with a high content of polyphenols, including rutin and chlorogenic acid. This study examined the effects of Lycii Fructus extract (LFE) on UVB-induced skin erythema in humans. Healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two groups and received UVB irradiation at 1.5 minimal erythemal dose (MED) on day 0 at three designated sites on their backs, and the skin color was measured until day 7. After an 8-week treatment with LFE (900 mg/day) or placebo, UVB irradiation (l.5 MED) was applied again at different sites on day 63. Skin color was continuously measured in each group until day 69. LFE tablet administration for 8 weeks significantly inhibited UVB-induced erythema formation and increased the MED by 13%. Erythema formation peaked on the first day after UVB irradiation, but gradually dissipated over the next several days. LFE tended to accelerate erythema disappearance. To determine the polyphenol responsible for the protection against UVB-induced skin damage, the effects of LFE-derived polyphenols and their metabolites on UVB-induced cytotoxicity were examined in vitro. The major intestinal metabolite of rutin and LFE significantly attenuated phototoxicity and in human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. Quercetin enhanced intracellular glutathione levels in HaCaT cells, even though LFE did not increase it. Together, the results showed that LFE inhibited erythema formation and accelerated erythema dissipation, possibly through its direct antioxidative action.

Canine Geriatric Syndrome: A Framework for Advancing Research in Veterinary Geroscience

Biological aging is the single most important risk factor for disease, disability, and ultimately death in geriatric dogs. The effects of aging in companion dogs also impose significant financial and psychological burdens on their human caregivers. The underlying physiologic processes of canine aging may be occult, or early signs of aging may be ignored because of the misconception that biological aging is natural and therefore inevitable. The ability to detect, quantify, and mitigate the deleterious processes of canine aging would greatly enhance veterinary preventative medicine and animal welfare. In this paper we propose a new conceptual framework for aging in dogs, the Canine Geriatric Syndrome (CGS). CGS consists of the multiple, interrelated physical, functional, behavioral, and metabolic changes that characterize canine aging as well as the resulting clinical manifestations, including frailty, diminished quality of life, and age-associated disease. We also identify potential key components of a CGS assessment tool, a clinical instrument that would enable veterinarians to diagnose CGS and would facilitate the development and testing of interventions to prolong healthspan and lifespan in dogs by directly targeting the biological mechanisms of aging. There are many gaps in our knowledge of the mechanisms and phenotype of aging in dogs that must be bridged before a CGS assessment tool can be deployed. The conceptual framework of CGS should facilitate identifying these gaps and should stimulate research to better characterize the processes and effects of aging in dogs and to identify the most promising preventative strategies to target these.

Aging Challenges. Perceived Age – a New Predictor of Longevity?

The ageing process is accompanied by the manifestation of many characteristics, so-called biomarkers, which can be quantified and used to assess a patient's health status. One of these signs is the progressive decline of a human's facial look, which is described by the concept of 'perceived age'. Facial aging is the most important parameter of perceived age. However, over the years, researchers have identified risk factors that affect the facial skin, including smoking, systematic consumption of alcoholic beverages, overweight or underweight, environmental conditions, and psychosocial determinants. The influence of psychological state on the appearance and life prognosis is shown. The authors presented data from the international literature on the study of perceived age. The frontiers of using perceived age as a biomarker of aging were Danish scientists who developed the main methodological approaches to determine this indicator. One such methodology used in population studies has been the clinical technique of assessing perceived age through photography. The review presents this methodology in detail, with its advantages and modifications. The authors conclude that the measurement of an individual's perceived age can serve not only as a prognostic indicator,  but also over time can become a   useful marker of the effectiveness of various treatments. Until now perceived age has hardly been studied in population studies, the authors presented data from the works of V.A.  Labunskaya, G.V.  Serikov,  T.A.  Shkurko who develop the direction related to psychology of perceived age  and in their studies use social-psychological approaches of appearance assessment.

Skin senescence: mechanisms and impact on whole-body aging

The skin is the largest organ and has a key protective role. Similar to any other tissue, the skin is influenced not only by intrinsic/chronological aging, but also by extrinsic aging, triggered by environmental factors that contribute to accelerating the skin aging process. Aged skin shows structural, cellular, and molecular changes and accumulation of senescent cells. These senescent cells can induce or accelerate the age-related dysfunction of other nearby cells from the skin, or from different origins. However, the extent and underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this opinion, we discuss the possible relevant role of skin senescence in the induction of aging phenotypes to other organs/tissues, contributing to whole-body aging. Moreover, we suggest that topical administration of senolytics/senotherapeutics could counteract the overall whole-body aging phenotype.

Exploring the possibility of predicting human head hair greying from DNA using whole-exome and targeted NGS data

Background

Greying of the hair is an obvious sign of human aging. In addition to age, sex- and ancestry-specific patterns of hair greying are also observed and the progression of greying may be affected by environmental factors. However, little is known about the genetic control of this process. This study aimed to assess the potential of genetic data to predict hair greying in a population of nearly 1000 individuals from Poland.

Results

The study involved whole-exome sequencing followed by targeted analysis of 378 exome-wide and literature-based selected SNPs. For the selection of predictors, the minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMRe) method was used, and then two prediction models were developed. The models included age, sex and 13 unique SNPs. Two SNPs of the highest mRMRe score included whole-exome identified KIF1A rs59733750 and previously linked with hair loss FGF5 rs7680591. The model for greying vs. no greying prediction achieved accuracy of cross-validated AUC = 0.873. In the 3-grade classification cross-validated AUC equalled 0.864 for no greying, 0.791 for mild greying and 0.875 for severe greying. Although these values present fairly accurate prediction, most of the prediction information was brought by age alone. Genetic variants explained < 10% of hair greying variation and the impact of particular SNPs on prediction accuracy was found to be small.

Conclusions

The rate of changes in human progressive traits shows inter-individual variation, therefore they are perceived as biomarkers of the biological age of the organism. The knowledge on the mechanisms underlying phenotypic aging can be of special interest to the medicine, cosmetics industry and forensics. Our study improves the knowledge on the genetics underlying hair greying processes, presents prototype models for prediction and proves hair greying being genetically a very complex trait. Finally, we propose a four-step approach based on genetic and epigenetic data analysis allowing for i) sex determination; ii) genetic ancestry inference; iii) greying-associated SNPs assignment and iv) epigenetic age estimation, all needed for a final prediction of greying.

Parallel Progress in Perceived Age and Life Expectancy

BACKGROUND

Human life expectancy continues to rise in most populations. This rise not only leads to longer lives but also is accompanied by improved health at a given age, that is, recent cohorts show a reduction of biological age for a given chronological age. Despite or even because of the diversity of biomarkers of aging, an accurate quantification of a general shift in biological age across time has been challenging.

METHODS

Here, we compared age perception of facial images taken in 2001 over a decade and related these changes in age perception to changes in life expectancy.

RESULTS

We show that age perception changes substantially across time and parallels the progress in life expectancy. In 2012, people aged more than 70 years needed to look 2.3 years younger to be rated the same age as in 2002.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that age perception reflects the past life events better than predicts future length of life, that is, it is written in your face how much you have aged so far. We draw this conclusion as age perception among elderly individuals paralleled changes in life expectancy at birth but not changes in remaining life expectancies. We suggest that changes in age perception should be explored for younger age classes to inform on aging processes, including whether aging is delayed or slowed with increasing life expectancy.

The AgeGuess database, an open online resource on chronological and perceived ages of people aged 5-100

In many developed countries, human life expectancy has doubled over the last 180 years. Underlying this higher life expectancy is a change in how we age. Biomarkers of ageing are used to quantify changes in the aging process and to determine biological age. Perceived age is such a biomarker that correlates with biological age. Here we present a unique database rich with possibilities to study the human ageing process. Using perceived age enables us to collect large amounts of data on biological age through a citizen science project, where people upload facial pictures and guess the ages of other people at www.ageguess.org . The data on perceived age we present here span birth cohorts from the years 1877 to 2012. The database currently contains around 220,000 perceived age guesses. Almost 4500 citizen scientists from over 120 countries of origin have uploaded ~4700 facial photographs. Beyond studying the ageing process, the data present a wealth of possibilities to study how humans guess ages and who is better at guessing ages.

A review of the role of estrogen in dermal aging and facial attractiveness in women

Estrogens are known to have protective and favorable influences on skin health; conversely, androgens oppose the actions of estrogens. Estrogen's chemical messages are transmitted via the classical nuclear hormone estrogen receptors (ER) alpha and beta and the rapid-acting G-coupled membrane estrogen receptor. Androgens [both testosterone and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (5α-DHT)] bind the same androgen receptor. Estrogen levels peak in the mid- to late 20s in women and then decline by 50% by 50 years of age and dramatically decrease further after menopause. The loss of estrogens with aging contributes to diminished dermal health, whereas estrogen hormone therapy [eg, oral conjugated equine estrogens (CEE)] restores skin health. Several reports suggest positive correlations between the levels of circulating estrogens and: (1) perceived age, (2) attractiveness, (3) enhanced skin health, and (4) facial coloration in women. Based upon a psychological dermato-endocrine perspective, the positive correspondence of high estrogens levels with perceived age and facial attractiveness in women especially with aging demonstrates the importance of hormonal influences on observed dermal health and youthful appearance.

The Smurf transition: new insights on ageing from end-of-life studies in animal models

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Over the past 5 years, many articles were published concerning the prediction of high risk of mortality in apparently healthy adults, echoing the first description in 2011 of the Smurf phenotype, a harbinger of natural death in drosophila.

RECENT FINDINGS

These recent findings suggest that the end-of-life is molecularly and physiologically highly stereotyped, evolutionarily conserved and predictable.

SUMMARY

Taken altogether, these results from independent teams using multiple organisms including humans draw the lines of future directions in ageing research. The ability to identify and study individuals about to die of natural causes with no apparent diseases is a game-changer in this field. In addition, the public health applications are potentially of tremendous impact in our ageing societies and raise important ethical questions.

Are Psychosocial Resources Associated With Perceived Facial Aging in Men?

Background: Looking younger than actual age has been related to a variety of health outcomes. Optimism, self-esteem, and relationship satisfaction are important psychosocial resources for mental health. Little is known about their relation with a younger facial appearance. Objective: This study analyzed whether these psychosocial resources are associated with a younger facial appearance and if their effects were mediated through mental health. Method: A sample of N = 223 self-reporting healthy men aged 40 to 75 years filled in questionnaires to assess optimism (Life Orientation Test–Revised), self-esteem (Multidimensional Self-Esteem Scale), relationship satisfaction (Relationship Assessment Scale), and mental health (Short-Form Health Survey). Five female raters estimated the visual age of each participant from a frontal face photograph. Results: Looking younger (compared with chronological age) was correlated with optimism, relationship satisfaction, and mental health. Mediation analyses and structural equation modeling indicated that mental health mediated the association between each psychosocial resource and a younger appearance. Discussion: The results emphasize the importance of promoting psychosocial resources and mental health in men 40+ for the maintenance of good health and the deceleration of facial aging.

Stress and Subjective Age: Those With Greater Financial Stress Look Older

Subjective indicators of age add to our understanding of the aging process beyond the role of chronological age. We examined whether financial stress contributes to subjective age as rated by others and the self. The participants ( N = 228), aged 26-75, were from a Boston area satellite of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) longitudinal study. Participants reported how old they felt and how old they thought they looked, and observers assessed the participants' age based on photographs (other-look age), at two occasions, an average of 10 years apart. Financial stress was measured at Time 1. Controlling for income, general stress, health, and attractiveness, participants who reported higher levels of financial stress were perceived as older than their actual age to a greater extent and showed larger increases in other-look age over time. We consider the results on accelerated aging of appearance with regard to their implications for interpersonal interactions and in relation to health.

The MC1R Gene and Youthful Looks

Looking young for one's age has been a desire since time immemorial. This desire is attributable to the belief that appearance reflects health and fecundity. Indeed, perceived age predicts survival [1] and associates with molecular markers of aging such as telomere length [2]. Understanding the underlying molecular biology of perceived age is vital for identifying new aging therapies among other purposes, but studies are lacking thus far. As a first attempt, we performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of perceived facial age and wrinkling estimated from digital facial images by analyzing over eight million SNPs in 2,693 elderly Dutch Europeans from the Rotterdam Study. The strongest genetic associations with perceived facial age were found for multiple SNPs in the MC1R gene (p < 1 × 10(-7)). This effect was enhanced for a compound heterozygosity marker constructed from four pre-selected functional MC1R SNPs (p = 2.69 × 10(-12)), which was replicated in 599 Dutch Europeans from the Leiden Longevity Study (p = 0.042) and in 1,173 Europeans of the TwinsUK Study (p = 3 × 10(-3)). Individuals carrying the homozygote MC1R risk haplotype looked on average up to 2 years older than non-carriers. This association was independent of age, sex, skin color, and sun damage (wrinkling, pigmented spots) and persisted through different sun-exposure levels. Hence, a role for MC1R in youthful looks independent of its known melanin synthesis function is suggested. Our study uncovers the first genetic evidence explaining why some people look older for their age and provides new leads for further investigating the biological basis of how old or young people look.