Home › Biomarkers › PhenoAge acceleration
In an American study of 11,432 adults aged 20 to 84, an older PhenoAge biological age was linked to a higher risk of death. This held true even after the researchers took actual age into account.[1]
On this page, you can read what PhenoAge acceleration is, what the guidelines say about a value that is too low or too high, what affects your value and which values are best to look at alongside it.
Also known as: PhenoAgeAccel, Phenotypic Age Acceleration, acceleration of phenotypic age. At the lab: n/a.
PhenoAge biological age, also called Phenotypic Age, is a measure of biological age. It is the age that, across the population, matches your estimated risk of death.[1]
The researchers calculate PhenoAge biological age from your actual age and 9 blood values. These values come from different systems in the body.[1]
PhenoAge acceleration is your PhenoAge biological age once your actual age has been taken out of it. If the value is positive, you seem physiologically older than expected. If it is negative, you seem younger.[1]
The researchers followed the participants for 12.6 years. During that time, 1,012 people died. An older PhenoAge biological age was linked to a higher risk of death, even after adjusting for age and sex.[1]
This link held across groups by age, ethnicity, education, number of conditions and lifestyle. It also held for people who reported no conditions and had a normal BMI, and for the oldest participants.[1]
According to the researchers, the measure may help to spot people at higher risk sooner. They also write that further research in other groups is needed.[1]
| Value | What it can point to | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Positive value[1] | Your body seems physiologically older than expected for your age | Adults in the American NHANES IV study |
| Negative value[1] | Your body seems physiologically younger than expected for your age | Adults in the American NHANES IV study |
| Older PhenoAge biological age[1] | Linked to a higher risk of death and to more conditions | Adults in the American NHANES IV study |
Source: Liu and colleagues, PLoS Medicine. The study gives no cut-off values, only the direction of the value, in American adults.[1]
A positive value may suggest that your body seems older than your age. In the study, an older PhenoAge biological age was linked to a higher risk of death. That tells you something about groups, not about what will happen to you.[1]
A negative value may suggest that your body seems younger than your age would lead you to expect. The study does not name any risk linked to a low value.[1]
BioProfile is working on its own zones for each value, from risk to optimal. A doctor reviews those zones before they appear in your result.
Your value comes from your age and 9 blood values together. If one of those blood values changes, your PhenoAge acceleration can change too.[1]
Among young adults in the study, people with 1 condition were physiologically 0.2 years older than people with no conditions. With 2 or 3 conditions, the difference was about 0.6 years.[1]
The study did not measure PhenoAge biological age repeatedly in the same people. So how your value changes over time is not yet well understood.[1]
PhenoAge acceleration is included in BioProfile 77, 87, 121 and 150.[2]
The BioProfile editorial team wrote this page on 25 October 2026 from the sources below, which we read on 25 October 2026. Every number on this page comes from one of those sources, with that source's number next to it. An expert has yet to review this page. Once that review is done, the expert's name and the date of the review will appear at the top. This page explains. It does not give a diagnosis. Discuss a value outside the normal range with your GP.
