Aging faster: which causes accelerate the process and what heredity has to do with it
The essentials
Aging faster has less to do with your year of birth than with what accumulates in your cells over the years. This article documents six accelerators with sources: smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity, UV radiation, sleeping at the lower or upper end of the range, and loneliness. According to twin data, the heritability of lifespan is around one quarter, and a more recent correction puts it below that.
This text does not list twelve points, as headlines do. It names six factors for which evidence exists, states how strong the evidence is for each, and clearly distinguishes between what you can influence and what is determined by heredity.
Chapter 1 clarifies the term. Chapter 2 shows the orders of magnitude, and Chapter 3 provides an overview of the six accelerators. Chapter 5 clears up three misconceptions. Chapter 6 gives you a self-check without a score, and Chapter 7 explains what genetic analysis can contribute to all this and where its limits lie.
What to expect in this article
1. Aging faster: what it means and what it does not
2. How large the levers are
3. Six accelerators for which evidence exists
4. Why the skin shows it first
5. Three misconceptions about aging
6. Your self-check: six questions
7. What heredity contributes and what a DNA test shows
8. What you can do now
Frequently asked questions
Sources
Aging faster: what it means and what it does not
When someone says they are aging faster, they rarely mean their date of birth. They mean that recovering after a short night's sleep takes longer than it did ten years ago, or that the face in the mirror looks more tired than the feeling behind it. This observation is not a matter of imagination; it has a biological counterpart.
The World Health Organization describes aging, in essence, as the accumulation of diverse molecular and cellular damage over time - that is, errors in the body's smallest building blocks and in the cells themselves (WHO, 2025). This leads to a gradual decline in physical and mental abilities. The WHO's concluding point is crucial: These changes progress neither linearly nor at the same rate for everyone, and they are only loosely linked to age in years.
Key message
Aging is the accumulation of damage in cells and molecules and is only loosely linked to chronological age; some of the differences between people are genetic, while the larger share is due to the environment and living conditions (WHO, 2025).
The difference between a cause and an accelerator
Aging itself has no cause that can be eliminated. It is the fundamental process. What can be influenced is the pace. That is why this article uses the word accelerator rather than cause where precision matters. What aging fundamentally is and which processes underlie it are explained in detail in the article Aging process.
The second distinction concerns direction. This text is a list of causes, not a list of solutions. What you can do to slow the pace is compiled in Slowing the aging process. Here, the point is to first understand what you are actually changing.
And the third distinction is the uncomfortable one. Six factors for which evidence is available in these sources are not the same as six factors that exist at all. The list does not claim to be complete. It is a list of what can be stated with an institution and a year. Everything else is left out, even if it appears in advice guides.
How powerful the levers are
Before turning to the individual factors, it is worth looking at the orders of magnitude. Four figures put the field into context. They come from four different sources and cannot be directly compared because they measure different things: years of life lost, recommended amounts of physical activity, mortality risk, and the hereditary component. Even so, placing them side by side immediately shows where the biggest leverage lies.
Four figures for context
8 years
average life expectancy lost due to premature death caused by smoking and secondhand smoke; in individual cases, 20 to 25 years (DKFZ, 2004)
at least 150–300 min.
moderate-intensity endurance activity per week for adults, or alternatively at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity (WHO, 2020)
+26%
higher mortality risk associated with loneliness in a review of numerous individual studies (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015)
around ¼
Heritability of lifespan among Danish twins, namely 26% in men and 23% in women (Herskind et al., 1996)
Source: German Cancer Research Center 2004; WHO and Bull et al. 2020; Holt-Lunstad et al. 2015; Herskind et al. 1996
The fourth figure is the most important because it puts the other three into context. Heritability means the proportion of differences between people that can be statistically attributed to genetic factors. If this proportion is around one quarter, then three quarters remain for everything else. That is the space in which the first three figures operate.
Six accelerators for which evidence is available
The table lists three things for each factor: what the source supports, what figure it provides for it, and what question you can ask yourself about it. The last column deliberately contains no figure. It is preparation for a conversation with a healthcare professional, not a self-assessment.
| Factor | What is supported by evidence | The figure | What you can check yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking | Smoking and secondhand smoke cause premature death; cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and stroke rank ahead of cancer in this regard (DKFZ, 2004). | an average of 8 years of life, 20 to 25 in individual cases (DKFZ, 2004) | Do you smoke yourself, or do you spend time in rooms where people smoke? |
| Alcohol | Alcohol plays a causal role in more than 200 diseases and injuries; even small amounts carry risks (paraphrased from WHO 2024). | around 2.6 million deaths worldwide in 2019 (WHO, 2024) | On how many evenings in the past week did you drink, and how much of it was habitual? |
| Physical inactivity | For adults, a weekly amount of aerobic activity is recommended; this is supplemented by muscle-strengthening activities involving all major muscle groups on two or more days (WHO and Bull et al., 2020). | at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity per week (WHO, 2020) | Do you reach this weekly amount when you count honestly instead of estimating? |
| UV radiation | Excessive UV exposure can lead to premature skin aging; UVA is the long-wave component of sunlight that penetrates deep into the skin (BfS, as of 2026). | no figure in the source | How long were you exposed to the sun without protection last summer, including time in a tanning bed? |
| Extreme sleep duration | In an observational study with 241,713 participants, sleep duration and estimated biological age, the study's measure, were U-shaped; no evidence of causation (Wang et al., 2024). | 5 hours or less and 9 hours or more compared with 7 hours per day (Wang et al., 2024) | How long do you sleep on weekdays, and how much does that differ on weekends? |
| Loneliness | In a meta-analysis, that is, a statistical synthesis of many individual studies, loneliness was associated with a higher probability of death, comparable to established risk factors (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015). | Loneliness +26%, social isolation +29%, living alone +32% (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015) | Who have you had a conversation with in the last seven days that lasted longer than five minutes? |
Two notes on the table. The smoking figure comes from an older analysis by the German Cancer Research Center from 2004; it is therefore more than twenty years old, which is exactly why the year is included. And the figures from Holt-Lunstad describe the probability of death, not the rate of aging. They are related, but not the same.
When it comes to exercise, it is worth looking closely at the weekly amount, because it is lower than sports articles might suggest. The article How much cycling is enough works out how such an amount adds up in everyday life for a single type of exercise.
Why the skin shows it first
Among the six factors, UV radiation is the only one whose effects you can track in the mirror. That makes it the best starting point for the topic, because it translates the abstract discussion of molecular damage into something visible. The Federal Office for Radiation Protection describes the process down to the connective-tissue fiber.
Documented source
“UV-A radiation penetrates deep into the skin and, among other things, causes the formation of so-called ‘free radicals,’ which in turn can damage the collagen in connective tissue. At the same time, the formation of new collagen is prevented.”
Federal Office for Radiation Protection
Long-term effects (UV radiation), as of 2026
Collagen is the protein that gives skin its firmness, a kind of supporting framework beneath the surface. The passage describes a twofold process: Existing collagen is damaged, and the supply of new collagen fails to keep up. The Federal Office cites permanent connective-tissue damage and wrinkle formation as consequences and identifies sunbathing and the use of tanning beds as risk factors for premature skin aging.
This is instructive for understanding the topic as a whole. The factor does not act because a single day in the sun causes harm, but through the cumulative effect. The other five behave in exactly the same way, just without a visible reflection. Anyone who wants to explore skin structure and protection options in greater depth will find that in the article Skin aging.
Three misconceptions about aging
These three statements appear regularly. All three sound reasonable. All three fail to stand up to scrutiny of the sources.
Myth check
Common
“Aging is purely genetic. My parents lived to an old age, so I’ll be fine.”
Supported
In Danish twin data, the heritability of lifespan was 26% for men and 23% for women; the authors describe lifespan as only moderately heritable (Herskind et al., 1996). A later analysis, after correction, arrives at a figure significantly below 10% in essence (Ruby et al., 2018).
Common
“A glass of wine a day is healthy.”
Supported
In essence, according to the WHO, even small amounts of alcohol carry health risks; the greatest harm results from episodic or sustained high consumption (WHO, 2024).
Common
“More sleep is always better.”
Supported
The association was U-shaped: Compared with 7 hours per day, 9 hours or more was associated with faster aging according to the study's markers, as was 5 hours or less. Observational study, not proof of causation (Wang et al., 2024).
Why two figures for heritability appear side by side
The first misconception deserves an addendum because the two figures are far apart. A twin study compares people who share all or half of their genetic makeup and infers the hereditary contribution from the difference. Herskind and colleagues analyzed 2,872 Danish twin pairs born between 1870 and 1900 in this way and arrived at around one quarter.
The work of Ruby and colleagues from 2018 addresses a bias that family data entail: Partners resemble each other in traits that influence lifespan, making the hereditary contribution appear larger than it is. After this correction, heritability for birth cohorts from the 19th and early 20th centuries was, in essence, well below 10 percent (Ruby et al., 2018). For you, both cases mean the same thing: The framework is set; the content is not.
Your self-check: six questions
These six questions do not produce a score. They provide no result or classification, and they are not a test score. Their sole purpose is to ensure that after reading them, you do not have six abstract factors in your head, but six concrete answers about yourself. Answer them in writing; that changes what sticks.
Smoking and alcohol
Do you smoke, or do you spend time in smoky rooms? And on how many of the past seven evenings was there an alcoholic drink in front of you without your having planned it? Preparation for a conversation at the doctor's office, not self-diagnosis.
Exercise and sun
How many minutes of endurance exercise did you accumulate over the past week, counted honestly rather than estimated? And how did you protect your skin last summer, both on vacation days and during your commute?
Sleep and closeness
What is your actual sleep duration on weekdays, and how much does it fluctuate on weekends? And who have you had a conversation with in the past seven days that went beyond organizational matters?
If one of these answers surprised you, the self-check has done its job. The point is not to open six problem areas at once. One answer that bothers you is entirely enough for the next few weeks.
Chapter at a glance
You can change something about your behavior starting today: smoking, alcohol, exercise, sun protection, sleep schedules, contact with others. You can have two things measured: your predisposition through a DNA test from a saliva sample, meaning spit that you collect yourself, and your current values through a blood test. Anything new or persistent belongs in a doctor's office: unexplained fatigue, changed moles, sleep disorders lasting for weeks.
What predisposition contributes and what a DNA test shows
This leaves the question behind the search: How much of this has already been decided for me? The two figures from Chapter 5 provide the answer. It is surprising. Even in the higher estimate, the hereditary share of lifespan remains around one quarter.
A genetic variant is nothing more than a small, natural difference in genetic material that varies between people. Such variants shift probabilities in population groups. They determine nothing for you as an individual. A predisposition is not a fixed outcome.
That is why, before a product appears, one clear statement: A DNA test does not measure age. It does not calculate biological age. It does not measure anything in your body, and it does not tell you how quickly you are aging. If that is exactly what you want to know, other methods are needed; the relevant explanation can be found in Biological age test.
What a genetic analysis can do is something different and more modest: It shows the areas in which your predisposition differs from average, giving you a starting point for decisions you have to make anyway. At mybody®x (MYBODY Lab GmbH), the Longevity test is designed for this topic.
DNA test from a saliva sample
Longevity | ALL IN ONE DNA test
The test analyzes over 170 genetic variations and presents the results in 74 analysis reports spanning around 240 pages, along with an assessment of over 1,000 foods. It shows predisposition as a probability in population groups. It measures neither age nor the rate of aging. It does not provide a diagnosis.
once in a lifetime, self-collected, mailed to the laboratory
The objection is obvious: If the hereditary component is small, why conduct a genetic analysis at all? The answer lies in the scale itself. Precisely because the framework is narrow, almost everything is decided by behavior. Anyone who knows where their predisposition differs from the average can target their behavior more precisely in that area, instead of following every recommendation intended for everyone at once.
Your genes set the framework. What you do every day fills it.
What you can do now
The headline that brought you here promised a number. Twelve things, twelve boxes to tick off. This article ends with a smaller number, namely one.
From the self-check, take the one answer that bothered you when you wrote it down and change something small about it over the next four weeks. Not six problem areas. One. This is not an exercise in modesty, but the consequence of the evidence: All six factors act through the sum of many days, not through a single good resolution.
Anyone who also wants a number about themselves has two options. Looking at predisposition through a saliva sample taken once in a lifetime, whose result remains. Or looking at current condition through blood values that change. Both are starting points for decisions, not verdicts.
And anything that is new or persists belongs in a doctor's office: exhaustion without an apparent cause, a mole that changes, or sleep problems that persist for weeks. No article replaces that appointment, including this one. It can only help you go into it with better questions.
Frequently asked questions
Does a DNA test measure my biological age?
No. A DNA test does not measure age. It reads gene variants, meaning small natural differences in the genetic material, and uses them to classify predisposition as a probability in population groups. The rate of aging cannot be derived from this, because the genetic material does not change over the course of life, while the rate does. Anyone looking for a figure reflecting their current condition needs methods that measure something in the body rather than reading the genetic material.
Can premature aging be reversed?
There is no evidence for that in this body of sources, and therefore there is no promise here. What the WHO describes in essence in 2025 is something else: Healthy habits throughout life, including a balanced diet and physical activity as well as avoiding tobacco, help reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases and maintain physical and mental capacity. This is a statement about the further course, not about reversing the process.
How much sleep is too much?
In the 2024 UK Biobank analysis by Wang and colleagues, involving 241,713 participants, 9 hours or more per day compared with 7 hours was considered just as indicative of faster ageing according to the study's markers as 5 hours or less. The association was therefore U-shaped. The authors' important caveat is that this is an observational study, so it does not establish causation. No recommendation for a specific number of hours can be derived from it.
Why is chronic stress not on the list?
Because there is no source for this in the article. The rule here is: no number and no mechanism of action without an institution and year. Including stress as an accelerator without evidence would be both convenient and methodologically unsound. What can be substantiated is a related point: in the 2015 meta-analysis by Holt-Lunstad and colleagues, loneliness and social isolation were associated with a 26 percent and 29 percent higher risk of death, respectively. This figure says nothing about the mechanisms behind it.
My parents lived to an old age. Is that enough information?
As reassuring information, this is worth something, but not as a prediction. In Danish twin data, the heritability of lifespan was 26 percent for men and 23 percent for women; the authors described it as only moderately heritable (Herskind et al., 1996). An analysis of family-tree data revised this proportion downward in 2018 because partners resemble each other in traits that affect lifespan, thereby distorting family comparisons (Ruby et al., 2018). Looking at family history therefore replaces neither your own habits nor preventive medical care.
Next step
If you want to know where your predisposition differs from the average
The mybody®x Longevity Test analyzes a saliva sample that you provide once in your life. It shows predisposition and does not measure age. If you are unsure whether it answers your question: the consultation is free, and it will not sell you anything.
View the Longevity DNA test Understanding biological ageRead more
You might also be interested in
What has been proven about eating for a long life and what remains marketing.
What calculation methods exist and how reliable the results are.
Sources
- WHO: Fact sheet “Ageing and health” (2025 edition) - who.int
- German Cancer Research Center: Press release “Smoking and passive smoking more dangerous than previously assumed” (as of 2004) - dkfz.de
- WHO: Fact sheet “Alcohol” (as of 2024) - who.int
- WHO; Bull FC et al.: “World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour”, British Journal of Sports Medicine 54:1451–1462 (as of 2020) - europepmc.org
- German Federal Office for Radiation Protection: “Long-term effects” (UV radiation, as of 2026) - bfs.de
- Holt-Lunstad J. et al.: “Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review”, Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(2):227–237 (as of 2015) - europepmc.org
The definition of aging and the relationship between genetic makeup and environment are based on [1], as is the statement about habits throughout life. The figure on years of life lost due to smoking comes from [2] and dates from 2004. The alcohol figures are provided in [3], the physical activity amounts in [4], the wording on UV-A's effect on collagen in [5], and the figures on loneliness and social isolation in [6]. Also consulted: Wang X. et al., Aging Cell 23(7):e14159, 2024 (sleep duration and aging markers, UK Biobank); Herskind A. M. et al., Human Genetics 97(3):319–323, 1996 (heritability of lifespan in Danish twins); Ruby J. G. et al., Genetics 210(3):1109–1124, 2018 (correction of the heritability estimate). Product details for the Longevity Test are from mybody®x product pages, accessed and verified on 15.09.2026.
mybody®x Editorial & Specialist Team
Aging process Genetics and lifestyle DNA analytics
This text is created by the mybody®x editorial and specialist team. Every figure is verified against the named institution and year, and every product detail against the live product page. Those who contribute to it are listed on the authors page.
Published on 15.09.2026 · Last updated on 15.09.2026
The DNA analysis is intended to provide guidance on nutrition and lifestyle. It is not a diagnostic procedure, does not predict disease, and does not replace a medical examination or consultation. Genetic variants describe probabilities in population groups, not determinations for individuals.
Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent diseases. The content is for general information only and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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