Too little sleep—and too much—associated with faster aging

An analysis of biological clocks throughout the human body suggests that too few hours of sleep—and too many—may speed aging in the brain, heart, lung, and immune system and is associated with a wide range of diseases. 

“Previous studies have found that sleep is largely linked to aging and the pathological burden of the brain. Our study goes further and shows that too little and too much sleep are associated with faster aging in nearly every organ, supporting the idea that sleep is important in maintaining organ health within a coordinated brain-body network, including metabolic balance and a healthy immune system,” says study leader Junhao Wen, assistant professor of radiology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

The research was published May 13 in Nature. 

The power of aging clocks 

Aging clocks are increasingly popular for digitizing how many years a person ages faster or slower than their chronological age using machine learning, based on the biological data (e.g., proteins from a minimally invasive blood test) from the person.  

Though most aging clocks measure aging across the whole body, organs age at different rates—a fact well-known to women facing ticking biological clocks due to fast-aging ovaries.  

Wen’s group has been at the forefront of constructing aging clocks for specific organs in the body that could provide more specific and personalized information to patients.  

“Everyone is excited by these aging clocks and their ability to predict disease and mortality risk,” Wen says. “But to me, the more exciting question is, can we link aging clocks to a lifestyle factor that can be modified in time to slow aging?” 

The U-shaped pattern between aging clocks and sleep 

Sleep was the perfect test case, as sleep is increasingly thought to be an important factor in health. “I’m also a light sleeper and was getting worried about the effects on myself,” says Wen.  

To build his aging clocks, Wen used data collected from half a million participants in the UK Biobank and used machine learning to determine signatures for an aging organ. Wen used a wide variety of data sources to create aging clocks based on structural data from medical images, organ-specific proteins, and molecules found in blood in each organ. “In the liver, for example, we have an aging clock built with protein data, an aging clock of metabolic data, and an aging clock of imaging data,” Wen says. “This allows us to see whether sleep is distinctively associated with aging clocks derived from multiple omics and molecular layers.” 

He then assessed the relationship between a person’s sleep duration (as reported by each Biobank participant) and their biological ages from 23 aging clocks across 17 organ systems.  

Across the entire body, a coordinated U-shaped pattern emerged: In the UK Biobank population, both short sleep (fewer than 6 hours) and long sleep (greater than 8 hours) were associated with faster aging, while the least amount of aging occurred in people who reported between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep per day. This does not mean that sleep duration alone causes organs to age faster or slower, but it suggests that both insufficient and excessive sleep may be markers of poorer overall health across the body. 

Sleep’s body-wide connection to disease 

The relationship between sleep and disease suggests that there exists a connection between the brain and the body that extends beyond merely influencing the brain itself.  

Among brain-related disorders, short sleep was significantly associated with depressive episodes and anxiety disorders, as seen in other studies of sleep and mental health. Short sleep was also associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and heart arrhythmias. Short and long sleep were associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and a cluster of digestive disorders, including gastritis and gastroesophageal reflux disease. 

Wen says, “The broad brain-body pattern is important because it tells us that sleep duration is a deeply embedded part of our entire physiology, with far-reaching implications across the body.” 

A deeper look at late-life depression and sleep 

Beyond predicting disease, the organ-specific aging clocks are also valuable for determining how sleep is related to specific conditions, as exemplified by Wen’s examination of late-life depression.  

Although the study could not definitively determine if sleep duration caused late-life depression or if late-life depression impacted sleep duration, Wen’s group applied “mediation analysis” to late-life depression, asking whether aging clocks mediate the relationship between both short and long sleep and late-life depression. The analyses suggest that short sleep may act directly on the disease burden of late-life depression, while long sleep may impact late-life depression via a mediation pathway underlying the brain and adipose clocks. 

“This has a strong implication for future sleep management and future therapeutics,” Wen says. “Our study suggests there may be different biological pathways between long and short sleepers that lead to the same outcome, late-life depression, and we shouldn’t treat them the same way.” 

Dietary changes in older people can improve ‘biological age’

Older Australians who reduce either dietary fat or animal-based protein show signs of reduced biological age, new research from the University of Sydney shows. 

Published in Aging Cell, the findings revealed 65- to 75-year-olds subjected to dietary intervention for just four weeks showed a reduction in 'biological age' based on their biomarker profile. Led by Dr Caitlin Andrews from the University of Sydney’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the research highlights the potential for dietary interventions to rapidly improve health and aging outcomes in older age. It offers a preliminary indication rather than a conclusive result, with the authors calling for longer-term trials to test whether these improvements translate into reduced disease risk and whether the findings extend to other age groups.  

While chronological age increases uniformly, biological aging varies between individuals, reflecting differences in health status and the body’s resilience. Scientists can estimate biological age using biomarker profiles, measures of physiological function over time which are often considered a better indicator of overall health and potential longevity than chronological age. 

The research integrated data from 20 different biomarkers - including blood levels of cholesterol, insulin and C-reactive protein - to calculate a biological age score for participants in the Nutrition for Healthy Living study, undertaken at the University’s Charles Perkins Centre.  

In the Nutrition for Healthy Living study, 104 participants were randomly assigned to one of four diets, each deriving 14 percent of energy from protein. Two were omnivorous (half coming from animal sources and the rest from plants) and two were semi-vegetarian (with 70 percent of protein coming from plant sources). Within the omnivorous and semi-vegetarian categories participants were then assigned to diets either high in fat and low in carbohydrates or low in fat and high in carbohydrates, resulting in four categories of diet: omnivorous high-fat (OHF), omnivorous high-carbohydrate (OHC), semi-vegetarian high-fat (VHF), or semi-vegetarian high-carbohydrate (VHC).  

Participants’ BMI (body mass index) ranged from 20-35. All participants were non-smokers, non-vegetarians and had no serious complications (e.g., type-2 diabetes mellitus, cancers, renal or liver disease) or food allergies and/or intolerances.   

The OHF group, whose amended diets most closely resembled participants’ baseline diets, showed no meaningful change in the 'biological age' of their biomarker profile. However, the biological age of the biomarker profile for those in the remaining three groups showed reductions. The reduction in biological age among the OHC group – those who ate omnivorous diets high in carbohydrates – was estimated with the highest degree of statistical confidence. This group’s diet comprised 14 percent of energy from protein, 28-29 percent from fat, and 53 percent from carbohydrates.  

It is unclear whether the impact of dietary changes on age-related biomarker profiles is enduring and results in sustained biological age reversal.  

“Longer term dietary changes are needed to assess whether dietary changes alter the risk of age-related diseases,” said Associate Professor Alistair Senior, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and the Charles Perkins Centre, who supervised the research.  

“It’s too soon to say definitively that specific changes to diet will extend your life. But this research offers an early indication of the potential benefits of dietary changes later in life,” said Dr Andrews. 

 “Future research should explore whether these findings extend to other cohorts and whether the changes recorded are sustained or predictive of long-term outcomes.”

Cannabis compounds may boost metabolic health while supporting weight loss

 A University of California, Riverside preclinical study is shedding light on a long-observed but poorly understood phenomenon: chronic cannabis users tend to have lower body weight and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, despite the drug’s well-known tendency to increase appetite.

A team led by Nicholas V. DiPatrizio, a professor of biomedical sciences at the UCR School of Medicine, set out to investigate this apparent paradox. While cannabis is commonly associated with increased food intake — often referred to as the “munchies” — population studies consistently show that regular users exhibit improved metabolic profiles compared to non-users. 

The new findings, published in The Journal of Physiology, suggest that specific compounds within cannabis may play a key role in regulating metabolism.

Using a mouse model designed to mimic human dietary patterns, DiPatrizio and his team compared the effects of pure delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the primary psychoactive component of cannabis — with a whole-plant cannabis extract containing the same level of THC alongside other naturally occurring compounds.

Both treatments led to significant weight loss in obese mice. However, the metabolic outcomes differed dramatically.

Mice treated with THC alone showed no improvement in glucose regulation, a key indicator of type 2 diabetes. Despite losing weight, these animals continued to exhibit impaired glucose homeostasis, a hallmark of diabetes.

In contrast, mice treated with the whole cannabis extract not only lost weight but also experienced a reversal of these metabolic impairments.

“This suggests that THC alone is not responsible for the metabolic benefits associated with cannabis use,” said DiPatrizio, who directs the UCR Center for Cannabinoid Research. “Other compounds in the plant appear to play a critical role.”

The researchers’ analysis points to a potential mechanism involving communication between fat tissue and the pancreas. In healthy systems, fat cells release signaling molecules that help regulate insulin secretion from the pancreas. In obesity and type 2 diabetes, this signaling becomes disrupted.

The study found that treatment with the full cannabis extract restored this communication pathway better than THC alone, allowing fat tissue to signal the pancreas and regulate blood glucose levels more effectively.

While the findings are promising, the researchers emphasize they do not necessarily support the use of cannabis as a treatment for metabolic disease given that further research is needed in preclinical and human studies.

“We’re not suggesting people should use cannabis to manage weight or diabetes,” DiPatrizio said.

DiPatrizio aims to identify non-psychoactive cannabis compounds for targeted therapies that deliver metabolic benefits without THC’s intoxicating effects. Future studies will isolate and test individual compounds to pinpoint those responsible.

The research also underscores the importance of continued scientific investigation as cannabis use becomes more widespread and policies evolve.

“Clinicians, researchers, and policymakers should stay tuned and pay attention to this space,” DiPatrizio said. “We need evidence-based approaches to fully understand both the risks and potential benefits of cannabis and its components.”

Engaging with arts linked to slower pace of ageing

 

Regularly taking part in arts activities such as reading, listening to music or visiting a gallery or museum may slow the pace of biological ageing, suggests a new study by University College London (UCL) researchers.

The study, published in the journal Innovation in Aging, looked at survey response and blood test data from 3,556 adults in the UK. Researchers compared participants’ arts and cultural engagement with chemical changes to DNA that influence biological ageing without altering the genetic code.

The research team found that those who engaged in arts and cultural activities more frequently, and who engaged in a wider diversity of these activities, appeared to have a slower pace of ageing and a younger biological age, as suggested by changes to DNA.

The apparent effects were comparable to those seen for exercise. For instance, people who did an arts activity at least once a week seemed to age 4% more slowly than those who rarely engaged with arts. This was the same as those who exercised at least once a week compared to those who did no exercise.

The links were stronger for middle-aged and older adults aged 40 or above and remained after accounting for factors that might skew the results such as BMI, smoking status, education level and income.

Lead author Professor Daisy Fancourt (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) said: “These results demonstrate the health impact of the arts at a biological level. They provide evidence for arts and cultural engagement to be recognised as a health-promoting behaviour in a similar way to exercise.

“Our study also suggests that engaging in a variety of arts activities may be helpful. This may be because each activity has different ‘ingredients’ that help health, such as physical, cognitive, emotional or social stimulation.”

Senior author Dr Feifei Bu (UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care) said: “Our study provides the first evidence that arts and cultural engagement is linked to a slower pace of biological ageing. This builds on a growing body of evidence about the health impact of the arts, with arts activities being shown to reduce stress, lower inflammation and improve cardiovascular disease risk, just as exercise is known to do.”

The researchers used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative sample whose participants’ blood samples were analysed to estimate biological age and pace of ageing.

This was done using seven epigenetic clocks – tests that look at age-related DNA changes (DNA methylation). Each of the seven clocks measured methylation (where a methyl molecule attaches to a nucleotide) at different sites on the genome.

The two newest clocks, DunedinPoAm and DunedinPACE, estimate the pace of ageing, with a faster ageing score associated with a higher risk of age-related diseases. Both frequency and diversity of arts engagement and physical activity were found to be linked to slower ageing.

For the DunedinPACE clock, doing an arts activity at least three times a year was linked to ageing 2% more slowly, monthly engagement was linked to 3% slower ageing, and weekly activity to a 4% slower ageing rate, compared to those who engaged with arts less than three times a year.

This difference in pace of ageing is comparable to that found in previous studies between current smokers and ex-smokers.

In another test, PhenoAge, which estimates biological age, people who engaged in arts and cultural activities at least weekly were a year younger on average compared to those who rarely engaged. People who did exercise at least weekly were just over half a year younger on average.

The other, older epigenetic clocks analysed in the study did not show any benefit for either arts and cultural engagement or physical activity. The team noted this was in line with previous studies finding no link between epigenetic age, as measured by these clocks, and physical performance such as walking speed. The researchers said this may be because these clocks were less sensitive to predicting age-related decline.

8,500 steps a day can help dieters keep weight off

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

European Association for the Study of Obesity

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New research being presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) in Istanbul, Turkey (12-15 May) and published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows that doing around 8,500 steps a day can help people keep weight off after dieting.

Weight management programmes frequently include advice to increase the number of steps walked each day, however, there is a lack of evidence to show that it helps with weight loss during dieting.

Moreover, it isn’t clear if doing more steps also helps people maintain their new weight and, if it does, how many they should do.

“The most important – and greatest – challenge when treating obesity is preventing weight regain,” explains Professor Marwan El Ghoch, of the Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.

“Around 80% of people with overweight or obesity who initially lose weight tend to put some or all of it back on again within three to five years.

“The identification of a strategy that would solve this problem and help people maintain their new weight would be of huge clinical value.”

Professor El Ghoch and researchers from Italy and Lebanon conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing research to find out more.

Eighteen randomised controlled trials on the topic were included in the systematic review. Fourteen of these, involving 3,758 individuals (average age of 53 years) with overweight or obesity (average BMI of 31 kg/m2) from countries including the UK, US, Australia and Japan, were included in the meta-analysis.

These trials compared 1,987 patients participating in lifestyle modification (LSM) programmes with 1,771 patients who were either dieting alone or not receiving any treatment (control group).

The lifestyle modification programmes included dietary recommendations and advice to walk more and count the number of steps done. The programmes had a weight loss phase, followed by a weight maintenance phase, where the aim was to keep the weight off in the long term.

Daily number of steps was measured at the start of the trials, at the end of the weight loss phase (average duration of 7.9 months) and at the end of the weight maintenance phase (average duration of 10.3 months).

Both groups of patients had a similar number of steps per day at the start of the trials (7,280 in LSM group vs. 7,180 in control group) indicating that they had similar lifestyles at baseline.

The control group did not increase their number of steps and did not lose weight at any time.

In contrast, the LSM group increased their step count to 8,454 a day by the end of the weight loss phase. They also lost a significant amount of their body weight (4.39% on average, around 4 kg).

They maintained this higher step count and, at the end of the weight maintenance phase, they were doing 8,241 steps daily. They also kept off most of the weight they had lost (average weight loss at end of trials of 3.28%, around 3 kg).

Further analysis showed that there was a clear link between increasing step count and preventing weight regain. Specifically, it was important to increase step count during the weight loss phase and maintain this increase during the weight maintenance phase. Patients who did so regained less weight.

Interestingly, an increase in daily steps was not associated with greater weight loss in the weight loss phase. The researchers speculate this is because other factors, such as reducing calorie intake, play a greater role here.

Professor El Ghosh concludes that lifestyle modification programmes can lead to a meaningful amount of weight loss long term.

He adds: “Participants should be always encouraged to increase their step count to approximately 8,500 a day during the weight loss phase and sustain this level of physical activity during the maintenance phase to help prevent them from regaining weight. “Increasing the number of steps walked to 8,500 each day is a simple and affordable strategy to prevent weight regain.”

 

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Exercise can help people quit smoking

—and even a single workout may cut cravings fast

Largest review to date finds exercise improves quit rates, reduces cigarette use, and sharply lowers short-term cravings

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Journal of Sport and Health Science

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image: 

Physical activity helps reduce cravings, ease withdrawal symptoms, and support quitting when combined with other interventions.

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Credit: Dr. Ben Singh from the University of South Australia

Exercise may offer smokers a simple but effective additional tool when trying to quit, according to a new systematic review led by researchers from the Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA) at Adelaide University. The review found that structured exercise programs can modestly improve quit success, while even a single bout of exercise can rapidly reduce nicotine cravings.

Tobacco smoking remains one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide, yet many people struggle to quit successfully. Existing cessation approaches, such as counseling, nicotine replacement therapy, and medications, can help, but long-term quit rates remain low, and many smokers relapse. The researchers argue that exercise may help fill an important gap because it is low-cost, widely accessible, and carries a range of additional physical and mental health benefits. Their study was available online in the Journal of Sport and Health Science on April 07, 2026.

The review is one of the most comprehensive to date on this topic. Researchers searched 11 databases up to March 2025 and included 59 randomized controlled trials involving 9,083 participants. Of these, 43 trials examined exercise training programs over time, while 16 assessed the immediate effects of a single exercise session. Importantly, the review included a broader mix of exercise approaches than earlier reviews, including aerobic exercise, resistance training, yoga, high-intensity interval training, and lifestyle-based physical activity interventions.

The findings showed that exercise training improved smoking abstinence outcomes. Across 23 trials involving 6,643 participants, people in exercise groups were 15% more likely to achieve continuous abstinence than those in control groups. Across 18 trials involving 4,455 participants, exercise also increased seven-day point prevalence abstinence by 21%. In addition, review of eight trials found that people in exercise programs smoked about 2.12 fewer cigarettes per day than controls.

The most immediate benefits were seen for cravings. In single-bout studies, exercise produced moderate-to-large reductions in nicotine cravings immediately after exercise, with benefits still evident 10, 20, and 30 minutes later. Higher-intensity exercise appeared especially effective, producing the largest drop in cravings. These short-term effects could be particularly useful during moments of strong urge, when relapse risk is highest.

The review also found that exercise type may matter. Aerobic exercise showed significant benefits for continuous abstinence in longer-term training studies, while higher-intensity exercise produced the strongest acute craving reductions in single-bout studies. That suggests both exercise mode and intensity may be important when designing smoking cessation programs.

However, the findings also highlight important limitations. Exercise did not significantly reduce long-term cravings in the exercise training studies, and the overall certainty of evidence for abstinence outcomes was rated as low due to issues such as heterogeneity, risk of bias, imprecision, and possible publication bias. The certainty of evidence was stronger—rated moderate—for reducing daily cigarette use and short-term cravings. The researchers say this means exercise should not yet be viewed as a standalone replacement for established smoking cessation treatments, but rather as a promising adjunct strategy.

Another major gap was the complete absence of vaping-specific trials. Although vaping and dual use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes are increasingly common, none of the included studies evaluated vaping cessation outcomes. The authors say this is now an urgent priority for future research, alongside studies testing the best exercise type, intensity, and delivery format.

Overall, the study suggests exercise could become a valuable addition to smoking cessation services. Because exercise can be self-directed, community-based, digitally supported, or integrated into existing health programs, it offers a practical option for people who want non-pharmacological support or an extra strategy alongside counseling and medication. While the effects on long-term abstinence were modest, the consistent reductions in cigarette use and acute cravings indicate that exercise could help more people make quit attempts, get through difficult craving periods, and reduce tobacco-related harm.

 

Reference
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2026.10113

Why older adults are using cannabis edibles

 

For adults over 60, cannabis use is increasing faster than in any other demographic.

But science has yet to keep up with why older adults are using cannabis products, which products they choose, and how they make decisions about which products to use.

A new study by researchers from University of Utah Health and University of Colorado Boulder reveals that many older adults start cannabis seeking more effective or non-pharmaceutical options to manage sleep, pain, or mental health, and that many people base their decisions on word of mouth rather than discussions with health care providers.

The results are published in JAMA Network Open.

Many seek more effective options to manage common health conditions

The researchers interviewed 169 adults over 60 who were about to purchase cannabis for the first time to identify common motivations.

“Overall, they really wanted better quality of life, reducing their pain, getting better sleep, and being able to enjoy time with family and friends a little bit more,” says Rebecca Delaney, PhD, assistant professor of population health sciences at U of U Health and first author on the study.

“For the most part, we found that these folks aren’t really interested in getting high. They just want to feel better,” adds Angela Bryan, PhD, professor of psychology and neuroscience at CU Boulder and senior author on the study.

Many participants had heard positive anecdotes about product usefulness from friends or family members, which tended to influence decisions. “They brought a lot of feedback from other people to inform their opinions,” Delaney says. “Word of mouth has a really big impact.”

Discussions with medical providers were rarely part of the picture, suggesting that better informational materials for patients and providers could be needed to drive conversations and help people make informed decisions about their health.

To CBD or to THC, that is the question

Older adults also faced the question of which products to use. Edible cannabis products may contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, the main psychoactive component of cannabis), cannabidiol (CBD), or both, and it was unclear what motivated and informed their decisions about which to purchase.

Many people perceived CBD-only products as therapeutically beneficial, which was often driven by anecdotal claims. People tended to perceive THC as offering benefits like improving mood. But most people chose combination products containing both, seeing them as a “Goldilocks option” that gives the best of both worlds.

Toward better decision-making

An important caveat is that the survey was conducted in Colorado, where recreational cannabis is legal. For older adults in Utah and other states where only medical use is permitted, the decision-making process may look different. But Delaney suspects that people’s core motivations—using cannabis to attempt to treat chronic pain, poor sleep, or mental health concerns—are probably the same.

Delaney says that the results help show people’s baseline understanding of using cannabis to address health concerns, providing a foundation to develop better informational tools and clinical support.

“The ultimate goal is to develop resources to help people make decisions and find products that meet their needs, and to figure out how we can distill information to patients and physicians,” Delaney says. “We would really love to see more of these conversations happening between physicians and patients to make sure that people feel supported and informed when seeking alternative ways to address their pain.”