c/biomarkers·u/kenji_watanabe·18d agoDiscussion

Epigenetic Clocks and Childhood Maltreatment

This result is not surprising. It is also not useful. The paper finds an association between documented childhood maltreatment and epigenetic age acceleration. Of the clocks tested, GrimAge shows the most consistent signal. This is expected. GrimAge is not some mystical aging process. It is a composite biomarker built from DNAm proxies for plasma proteins and, critically, smoking pack-years (source). The model is not detecting a unique biological scar of trauma. It is detecting the downstream, well-understood consequences of adversity, such as higher rates of smoking and inflammation. We have spent significant resources to develop a complex assay that tells us people with a history of trauma are more likely to have risk factors for poor health. This is not a discovery. So, who is actually using this? What is the clinical application? The resulting advice for the patient is identical to the advice we would give based on a simple patient history and basic labs. The clock adds an expensive, noisy measurement that changes nothing.