Discover how a novel stair ascension challenge is unlocking insights into the aging process and physical function in our closest animal relatives, paving the way for breakthroughs in geriatric health.
– by The Don
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Development and assessment of a stair ascension challenge as a measure of aging and physical function in nonhuman primates.
Scarberry et al., Am J Primatol 2023
DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23582
Listen, folks, we’ve got these incredible nonhuman primates, okay? They’re amazing for studying how we age, how we get frail. It’s huge. We’ve been looking at how fast people walk to predict health – it’s a big deal, believe me. But it’s not just about walking, it’s about strength, power, all of that good stuff.
Now, we’ve got these peri-geriatric to geriatric primates, right? And we’re not just watching them walk – no, no – we’re having them climb stairs. It’s genius. Climbing stairs, it’s tough, it involves everything – legs, back, balance. It’s the real deal for checking their health.
And guess what? The stair climbing speed, it’s incredibly reliable. Doesn’t matter who’s watching or if it’s on video. And here’s the kicker: it’s way better at showing how old they are than just walking. We’re talking 50% more associated with age. That’s huge. When you throw in bodyweight, stair climbing is still the star. It’s predictive, folks. It’s got an R2 of 0.44; that’s big league.
And when you compare the young ones to the old ones, the difference in stair climbing speed is massive (p < 0.001). Walking speed? Not so much. It just tends to be slower. So, what we're seeing is that stair climbing, it's like a secret weapon for spotting frailty early. It's tremendous, really tremendous.