https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02333-z Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement Advertisement Nature * View all journals * Search * Log in * Explore content * About the journal * Publish with us * Subscribe * Sign up for alerts * RSS feed 1. nature 2. news 3. article * NEWS * 25 July 2025 Ageing accelerates around age 50 -- some organs faster than others An analysis of how various tissues age is the latest to suggest that ageing does not march to a steady beat. By * Heidi Ledford 1. Heidi Ledford View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar * Twitter * Facebook * Email A close-up of five elderly men playing rugby in a field on a sunny day Ageing of many tissues accelerates around age 50, according to an analysis of tissues in people ranging from teenagers to individuals in their sixties.Credit: Karen Haibara/AFP/Getty It is a warning that middle-aged people have long offered the young: ageing is not a smooth process. Now, an exhaustive analysis of how proteins change over time in different organs backs up that idea, finding that people experience an inflection point at around 50 years old, after which ageing seems to accelerate. The study, published 25 July in Cell^1, also suggests that some tissues -- especially blood vessels -- age faster than others, and it identifies molecules that can hasten the march of time. The findings add to mounting evidence that ageing is not linear, but is instead pockmarked by periods of rapid change. Even so, larger studies are needed before scientists can label the age of 50 as a crisis point, says Maja Olecka, who studies ageing at the Leibniz Institute on Aging -- Fritz Lipmann Institute in Jena, Germany, and was not involved in the study. "There are these waves of age-related changes," she says. "But it is still difficult to make a general conclusion about the timing of the inflection points." Showing their age Previous work has shown that different organs can age at different rates^2. To further unpick this, Guanghui Liu, who studies regenerative medicine at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and his colleagues, collected tissue samples from 76 people of Chinese ancestry aged 14 to 68 who had died from accidental brain injury. The samples came from organs representing eight of the body's systems, including the cardiovascular, immune and digestive systems. The researchers then created a compendium of the proteins found in each of the samples. They found age-related increases in the expression of 48 disease-associated proteins, and saw early changes at around age 30 in the adrenal gland, which is responsible for producing various hormones. [d41586-025] Why do ageing rates vary by country? Massive study says politics play a part This tracks well with previous data, says Michael Snyder, a geneticist at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California. "It fits the idea that your hormonal and metabolic control are a big deal," he says. "That is where some of the most profound shifts occur as people age." Between the ages of 45 and 55 came a turning point marked by large changes in protein levels. The most dramatic shift was found in the aorta, the body's main artery, which carries oxygenated blood out of the heart. The team tracked down one protein produced in the aorta that, when administered to mice, triggers signs of accelerated ageing. Liu speculates that blood vessels act as a conduit, carrying molecules that promote ageing to remote destinations throughout the body. Login or create a free account to read this content Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com Access through your institution or Sign in or create an account # Continue with Google # Continue with ORCiD doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-02333-z References 1. Ding, Y. et al. Cell https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.047 (2025). Article Google Scholar 2. Oh, H. S.-H. et al. Nature 624, 164-172 (2023). Article PubMed Google Scholar 3. Shen, X. et al. Nature Aging 4, 1619-1634 (2024). 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Cambridge, Massachusetts (US) Biogen [] * Director of LATAM Country and Site Operations Biogen is seeking a Director for Country and Site Operations in Latin America Sao Paulo, Brazil Biogen [] Related Articles * [d41586-025] Ageing is linked to inflammation -- but only in the industrialized world * [d41586-025] Why eating less slows ageing: this molecule is key * [d41586-025] Ageing studies in five animals suggest how to reverse decline * [d41586-025] The brain aged more slowly in monkeys given a cheap diabetes drug * [d41586-025] What accelerates brain ageing? This AI 'brain clock' points to answers Subjects * Ageing * Proteomics * Medical research Advertisement Sign up to Nature Briefing An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, delivered to your inbox every weekday. Email address [ ] [ ] Yes! Sign me up to receive the daily Nature Briefing email. I agree my information will be processed in accordance with the Nature and Springer Nature Limited Privacy Policy. 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