Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 28, 2025

Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Determination of Biological Age: Geriatric Assessment vs Biological Biomarkers
Lucas W M Diebel1,2, Kenneth Rockwood3,4,5
1Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, Canada.
Purpose Of Review:
Biological age is the concept of using biophysiological measures to more accurately determine an individual's age-related risk of adverse outcomes. Grading of the degree of frailty and measuring biomarkers are distinct methods of measuring biological age. This review compares these strategies for estimating biological age for clinical purposes.
Recent Findings:
The degree of frailty predicts susceptibility to adverse outcomes independently of chronological age. The utility of this approach has been demonstrated across a range of clinical contexts. Biomarkers from various levels of the biological aging process are improving in accuracy, with the potential to identify aberrant aging trajectories before the onset of clinically manifest frailty. Grading of frailty is a demonstrably, clinically, and research-relevant proxy estimate of biological age. Emerging biomarkers can supplement this approach by identifying accelerated aging before it is clinically apparent. Some biomarkers may even offer a means by which interventions to reduce the rate of aging can be developed.
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Excretion
Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Distribution
Drug Dosing: Geriatric Patients
Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Metabolism
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...

