Simple urine test measures how much bodies have aged, reveal years left to live

A simple urine test could measure how much our bodies have aged and even how long left we have to live, new research suggests.

Scientists discovered a certain substance, known as 8-oxoGsn, which indicates cell damage, increases in people’s urine as they get older.

By determining people’s ‘internal age’, it may be possible to assess their risk of suffering age-related illnesses and even premature death, according to the researchers.

The efficient urine-analysis technique used by the scientists, which assessed the samples of up to 10 individuals in an hour, may be useful in future studies investigating the link between 8-oxoGsn and biological ageing, they add.

Critics argue, however, ageing alone does not accurately indicate the onset of diseases, adding the study did not investigate a link between 8-oxoGsn and conditions associated with the elderly, such as Parkinson’s.

Study author Dr Jian-Ping Cai, from the National Centre of Gerontology in China, said: “Urinary 8-oxoGsn may reflect the real condition of our bodies better than our chronological age, and may help us to predict the risk of age-related diseases.”

The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience.

Humans may live to 120 in just 60 years time, a leading expert claimed in May 2017.

Research reveals it is possible to slow down our biological, or ‘inner’, ageing process, which could help us to live decades beyond the current life expectancy of 81.