Abstract:
A cellular-age meta-analysis system performs a meta-analysis method on personal information and telomere assay figures, so as to rapidly and accurately obtain information on personal aging degree evaluation and on preventive and improving recommendation according to on analytic figures related to cellular age and a cellular-aging index. With the information and cellular aging analytic figures, a user is aware of his/her potential age and risks, and knows whether his/her current physiological conditions shows a trend of premature aging or not. This encourages the user to adopt a reliable, appropriate personalized healthcare solution that prevents premature aging and avoid adverse lifestyle and environmental factors on a daily basis, thereby protecting his/her body from abnormal aging rate, and improving health and decreasing incidence of associated diseases.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to finding out cellular age and a cellular-aging index, and more particularly to a cellular-age meta-analysis system that is based on personal information and telomere assay figures and uses a meta-analysis server to perform interactive calculation. 
         [0003]    Related Prior Art 
         [0004]    By calculating years that has lapsed since an individual&#39;s birth, it is possible to know the year-based age (chronological age) of the individual. Recently, the concept of “potential age”, which is different from chronological age, has been increasingly discussed. Calculated differently from chronological age, the so-called potential age is an age value of an individual&#39;s body determined by considering the aging factors acting on the individual, and generally includes two aspects: “cellular age” and “physiological age”. The term “cellular age” stems from the theory of “cellular aging” and its related research. It is found in the past biological research into cells that cells after long-term culture tend to have morphological change that brings about slower metabolism and reduced cloning, which are symptoms reflecting the aging state of cells, also known as “cellular aging”. More recent studies suggest that cellular aging may be related to the shortened length of “telomeres”, which refer to a unique structure existing at the terminal of a DNA. At present, the commercially available assays for finding out potential age are nothing about biological tests focused on “cellular age”, but actually evaluation of “physiological age” based on data collected from surveys about respondents&#39; personal lifestyle and physical conditions. A “physiological age” assay obtains year-based age and is in nature a ranking work on the subject&#39;s personal living environment and habit. On the other hand, a “cellular age” assay directly measures cellular aging signs such as a shortened telomere, and uses algorithm and analysis to figure out how the subject&#39;s cells age. In brief, “physiological age” is more about evaluating the factors causing the subject&#39;s “potential age”, while “cellular age” discloses an analytic result of the current cellular aging state. Since a person&#39;s “cellular age” better represents his/her current actual aging state, knowing cellular age is helpful to learn the subject&#39;s physiological conditions and whether his/her cells are aging at an increased rate. If yes, the subject may be suggested improving his/her living habit and environmental factors, thereby preventing abnormal aging rate. 
         [0005]    However, the existing assays for measuring potential age are mostly focused on physiological age, and thus fail to provide evidence whether the subject&#39;s lifestyle or personal physiological conditions are harming his/her cells. Also, physiological age is difficult to be quantified into an index reflecting the relation between the subject&#39;s year-based age and actual aging state, so is not a good reference for determining the subject&#39;s potential age. Hence, it is important to find a solution to use a “cellular age” assay to evaluate the actual aging state of a person. The solution may further involve calculating assay figures so as to provide information on the person&#39;s potential age, health and aging risks. With this information, healthcare personal can better draw up a personalized anti-aging, health-improving recommendation that well addresses the person&#39;s actual physiological conditions. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    The present invention provides a cellular-age meta-analysis system with the objective to perform a meta-analysis method on personal information and telomere assay figures, so as to rapidly and accurately obtain information on personal aging degree evaluation and on preventive and improving recommendation according to on analytic figures related to cellular age and a cellular-aging index. 
         [0007]    For achieving the foregoing objective, the disclosed cellular-age meta-analysis system includes a user interface, a meta-analysis server, a telomere length trend database, an age-telomere relation database, a report content database and an analytic result database, therein the user interface being used to enter at least one personal information and at least one telomere length assay figure to the meta-analysis server; the meta-analysis server sending the personal information and the telomere length assay figure to the telomere length trend database and the age-telomere relation database for interactive calculation, so as to obtain a personal cellular age figure and a cellular aging figure; the report content database receiving the personal information, the personal cellular age figure and the cellular aging figure and performing unified calculation, so as to obtain a personal aging degree evaluation datum and a preventive and improving recommendation datum; and the meta-analysis server extracting the cellular aging figure, the personal aging degree evaluation datum and the preventive and improving recommendation datum, performing processing and formalization to output a cellular-age report, and saving the cellular-age report into the analytic result database. 
         [0008]    Preferably, the personal information includes a name, an ID number, a gender and a year of birth. 
         [0009]    Preferably, the telomere length assay figure includes an ID number, a telomere assay figure and an acidic ribosomal protein P0 gene assay figure. 
         [0010]    Preferably, the report content database includes an aging-degree evaluation datum area and a preventive and improving recommendation datum area. 
         [0011]    Preferably, the cellular-age report includes a report item set and a report content set. The report item set includes a cellular-age information, a cellular-aging index, an aging-degree evaluation and a personal health preventive and improving recommendation. An analytic and evaluative result of the report item set serves as a reference for a client to improve health thereof. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a graph showing distribution of telomere lengths among males as referred to in the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a graph showing distribution of telomere lengths among females as referred to in the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a graph showing telomere data of people at age 25 as recorded in an age-telomere relation database of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a graph showing telomere data of people at age 41 as recorded in an age-telomere relation database of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of the method of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    The following preferred embodiments when read with the accompanying drawings are made to clearly exhibit the above-mentioned and other technical contents, features and effects of the present invention. Through the exposition by means of the specific embodiments, people would further understand the technical means and effects the present invention adopts to achieve the above-indicated objectives. However, the accompanying drawings are intended for reference and illustration, but not to limit the present invention and are not made to scale. 
         [0019]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , according to one embodiment of the present invention, a cellular-age meta-analysis system comprises: a user interface  10 , a meta-analysis server  20 , a telomere length trend database  30 , an age-telomere relation database  40 , a report content database  50 , a cellular-age report  60  and an analytic result database  70 . 
         [0020]    The user interface  10  provides a table for a user to input data, which includes at least a personal information  11  and at least a telomere length assay  figure 12 . 
         [0021]    In the present embodiment, the personal information  11  includes: a name  110 , an ID number  111 , a gender  112  and a year of birth  113 , as shown in Table 1: 

 
         [0022]    The telomere length assay  figure 12  includes: an ID number  120 , a telomere assay  figure 121  and an acidic ribosomal protein P0 gene assay  figure 122  (RPLP0), as shown in Table 2: 

 
         [0023]    A telomere is a six-base repetitive sequence (TTAGGG) located at the terminal of a chromosome, and works with telomere binding protein to form a protein-DNA complex, which is a special structure important to chromosomal protection. As proven by many studies, telomeres in cells become shorter as cells age. It is also found that shortened telomeres are responsible for some aging factors. Therefore, telomere length is regarded as an important indicator of cellular aging. Using a telomere assay to measure telomere length aids in evaluating the aging degree of cells, and thereby presents the big picture of the subject&#39;s health. An acidic ribosomal protein P0 gene is a single copy gene. Since there is only one copy in a cell, a higher count of this gene means there are more cells in the assayed sample, and vice versa. Therefore, the assay figure of the acidic ribosomal protein P0 gene is a reference for the quantity of cells. The assay result of telomeres refers to the base length of all the telomeres in a sample. Since the number of cells in the sample determines the assay figure, it is difficult to accurately evaluate the aging degree of a single cell depending only on the telomere assay  figure 121 . Thus, in addition to the assay result of telomeres, the present invention further uses the acidic ribosomal protein P0 gene assay  figure 122  (RPLP0) in order to accurately evaluate the number of cells in the sample. Using the assay result of the acidic ribosomal protein P0 gene assay  figures 122  (RPLP0) to normalize the assay result of telomeres, the telomere base length of a single cell can be obtained, so that reliable, accurate analysis of cellular aging is achievable. 
         [0024]    Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the telomere assay  figures 121  stored in the telomere length trend database  30  are from males and females of all ages, with the condition that they have good living habits and have neither major medical records nor serious aging factors. These assay figures are collected and converted graphically express specific trends.  FIG. 2  is a graph showing distribution of telomere lengths among males.  FIG. 3  is a graph showing distribution of telomere lengths among females. In the graphs, the X axis represents chronological age, and the Y axis represents telomere length (expressed in the unit of thousand bases/cell). 
         [0025]    The meta-analysis server  20  then according to the gender  112  expressed in the personal information  11  performs analytic calculation using the telomere assay  figure 121  and the telomere length trend database  30  corresponding to the gender  112 . For example, the user inputs a telomere assay  figure 121  for a man, and the analytic calculation will be performed using the male telomere length trend data as shown in  FIG. 2 . Where the man is normally healthy, the calculated cellular age should be equal to the chronological age. For a man who pays extra attention to health and anti-aging works such as taking exercise, and having balanced diet and nutritional supplements, the calculated cellular age may be younger than the chronological age. If the man has bad living habits and lives in an environment full of aging factors, the calculated cellular age may be older than his chronological age. In other words, analysis of the cellular age is useful to learn a person&#39;s actual aging state and health. 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the age-telomere relation database  40  provides a source of telomere length data of a coeval, healthy population. This, through comparison, the user&#39;s aging degree with respect to his/her peers can be determined.  FIG. 4  is a graph showing telomere data of people at age 25 as recorded in an age-telomere relation database  40 .  FIG. 5  is a graph showing telomere data of people at age 41 as recorded in an age-telomere relation database  40 . Therein, the X axis represents chronological age, and the Y axis represents telomere length (expressed in the unit of thousand bases/cell). Also shown in the graphs are averages and standard values. In addition to cellular age, the present invention also performs analysis of a cellular-aging index. Through comparative analysis of the telomere length data of a coeval, healthy population, it is possible to learn the user&#39;s aging degree with respect to his/her peers. The meta-analysis server  20  uses the year of birth  113  contained in the personal information to calculate the user&#39;s age, and then performs analytic calculation with the telomere assay  figure 121  and the age-telomere relation database  40 . For example, if a user enters a telomere assay figure of a chronological age of 25, this figure is compared to the telomere data of people at age 25 in the age-telomere relation database  40 . The telomere data of people at age 25 in the age-telomere relation database  40  are visualized as shown in  FIG. 4 . Therein, Y axis represents telomere length (expressed in the unit of thousand bases/cell) with the average and the standard deviation provided. For example, a user enters a telomere assay figure of a chronological age of 41, this figure is compared to the telomere data of people at age 41 in the age-telomere relation database  40 . The telomere data of people at age 41 in the telomere length trend database  30  are as shown in  FIG. 5 . The telomere assay  FIGS. 121  of different chronological ages are compared to the averages and standard deviations of the telomere data of the corresponding chronological ages in the age-telomere relation database  40 . By means of the statistical method known as stand score (z-score), a reliable cellular-aging index can be obtained. The cellular-aging index may be any of seven levels namely −3, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, and +3. The level more negative indicates a lower aging degree in the coeval population, which means that the subject is physiologically younger and more healthy than his/her peers. The level more positive indicates a higher aging degree in the coeval population, which means that the subject is physiologically older and less healthy than his/her peers. Such a cellular-aging index thus provides a clear indicator showing how aged the subject&#39;s cells are. 
         [0027]    The report content database  50  contains an aging-degree evaluation datum area  51  and a preventive and improving recommendation datum area  52 . The aging-degree evaluation datum area  51  includes health analytic results for different cellular age ranges, and the preventive and improving recommendation datum area  52  includes cellular aging improving recommendations for different values of the cellular-aging index. 
         [0028]    As shown in Table 3, the cellular-age report  60  includes a report item set  61  and a report content set  62 . The report item set  61  includes four major items, namely cellular-age information  610 , cellular-aging index  611 , aging-degree evaluation  612  and personal health preventive and improving recommendation  613 . The report content set  62  contains analytic and evaluative results of the report item set  61 , serves as a reference for a client to improve health thereof 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 3 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Report Item Set 
                 Report Content Set 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Cellular-Age 
                 Your cellular age is 55. 
               
               
                 Information 
               
               
                 Cellular-Aging 
                 Your cellular-aging index is +2. 
               
               
                 Index 
               
               
                 Aging-Degree 
                 1. You are older than your actual age 
               
               
                 Evaluation 
                 2. You have physiological conditions of cellular 
               
               
                   
                 age of 50~60, and the evaluation results of 
               
               
                   
                 your health indicate that: 
               
               
                   
                 Cardiovascular system: 
               
               
                   
                 1. you have arterial calcification, with larger 
               
               
                   
                 arteries thickened by 40%; 
               
               
                   
                 2. you have risks of cardiovascular diseases; 
               
               
                   
                 Digestive tract: 
               
               
                   
                 1. you have to take fecal occult blood test 
               
               
                   
                 every year and sigmoidoscopy every 3-5 years; 
               
               
                   
                 2. you are likely to have polyps, and care your 
               
               
                   
                 health; 
               
               
                   
                 Muscles and bones: 
               
               
                   
                 1. Your physical ability and muscle strength 
               
               
                   
                 are weakened; 
               
               
                   
                 2. Your bone mass decreases sharply; 
               
               
                   
                 Facial skin 
               
               
                   
                 1. Your ability to synthesize collagen keeps 
               
               
                   
                 degrading, and is lower than a half then that 
               
               
                   
                 when you were young; 
               
               
                   
                 2. Wrinkles are getting deeper and wider; and 
               
               
                   
                 3. Aging spots appear. 
               
               
                 Personalized 
                 1. Tips for improving your facial skin 
               
               
                 Preventive And 
                 Your physiological age is older than your 
               
               
                 Improving 
                 actual age. To have a good countenance, you 
               
               
                 Recommendation 
                 need to take good care of your facial skin and 
               
               
                   
                 keep a regular daily routine. In addition to 
               
               
                   
                 basic cleaning, moistening and sun-shielding, 
               
               
                   
                 you need pay efforts to improve existing facial 
               
               
                   
                 spots and wrinkles and to prevent new one to 
               
               
                   
                 appear. 
               
               
                   
                 2. Tips for improving your cardiovascular 
               
               
                   
                 system 
               
               
                   
                 When you find that your physiological age is 
               
               
                   
                 older than your actual age, you need to keep a 
               
               
                   
                 regular daily routine that is good to your 
               
               
                   
                 cardiovascular system. It is recommended that 
               
               
                   
                 you formalize a daily schedule and follow the 
               
               
                   
                 schedule as strictly as possible. The regular 
               
               
                   
                 routine will awake your body&#39;s natural ability 
               
               
                   
                 to regain health. 
               
               
                   
                 3. Tips for improving your digestive tract 
               
               
                   
                 Sufficient ingestion of water and fiber is 
               
               
                   
                 important to digestive health. 
               
               
                   
                 Drinking enough water and eating grains and 
               
               
                   
                 vegetables full of dietary fiber are of great 
               
               
                   
                 help to prevent hardened stools and prompt 
               
               
                   
                 gastrointestinal motility, thereby gradually 
               
               
                   
                 improving intestinal absorption and enhancing 
               
               
                   
                 overall health. 
               
               
                   
                 4. Tips for improving your muscles and bones 
               
               
                   
                 Having a good mindset is a good start to 
               
               
                   
                 improve physical activity. An aged body lack 
               
               
                   
                 vitality, and engaging in heavy exercise may 
               
               
                   
                 cause overwork and defatigation. It is 
               
               
                   
                 important to understand that health improvement 
               
               
                   
                 can only be successful in proper sequence. 
               
               
                   
                 The first step is to have a right attitude, and 
               
               
                   
                 often remind yourself of the importance of 
               
               
                   
                 exercise. Increase exercise in terms of 
               
               
                   
                 intensity and time gradually on a daily basis, 
               
               
                   
                 and you will in the course of time regain 
               
               
                   
                 basic physical strength and basal metabolism. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0029]    Therein, the cellular-age information  610  in converted to a value of cellular age in the report. The cellular-aging index  611  is an evaluating result of cellular aging obtained using the statistical method known as stand score (z-score). The cellular-aging index may be any of seven levels namely −3, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, and +3. The level more negative indicates a lower aging degree in the coeval population and the level more positive indicates a higher aging degree in the coeval population. In this way, the degree of cellular aging can be expressed objectively. The aging-degree evaluation  612  contains cellular-age-based evaluating results for the client&#39;s cardiovascular system, digestive tract, muscles and bones, and facial skin health according to the client&#39;s cellular-age information  610 , and is used as a healthcare reference. The personal health preventive and improving recommendation  613  is preventive and improving recommendation on the client&#39;s cardiovascular system, digestive tract, muscles and bones, and facial skin aging made according to the client&#39;s cellular aging index  611 , with the attempt to retard the aging process. 
         [0030]    The user lay log in the disclosed cellular-age meta-analysis system in a wired or wireless manner and get connected to the meta-analysis server  20 . The meta-analysis server  20  is connected to the user interface  10 , the telomere length trend database  30 , the age-telomere relation database  40 , the report content database  50  and the analytic result database  70 , so that the meta-analysis server  20  acts as a hub for interactive calculation and transmission of all the figures and data, and is where the meta-analysis is carried out. 
         [0031]    The disclosed cellular-age meta-analysis system provides a fast and reliable method for analyzing cellular aging and evaluating health. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the method includes the following steps. In Step a, a personal information and an assay figure are input. Particularly, a user may use the user interface  10  to input at least one personal information  11  and at least one telomere length assay  figure 12  to the meta-analysis server  20 . 
         [0032]    In Step b, the personal cellular age figure and the cellular aging figure are obtained. Particularly, the meta-analysis server  20  sends the personal information  11  and the telomere length assay  figure 12  to the telomere length trend database  30  and the age-telomere relation database  40 , respectively. After interactive calculation, the personal cellular age  figure 21  and the cellular aging  figure 22  are obtained. 
         [0033]    In Step c, the personal aging degree evaluation datum and the preventive and improving recommendation datum are obtained. Particularly, the meta-analysis server  20  further extract the personal information  11 , the personal cellular age  figure 21  and the cellular aging  figure 22 , and transmit them to the report content database  50  so that the aging-degree evaluation datum area  51  and the preventive and improving recommendation datum area  52  can perform unified calculation, thereby obtaining a personal aging degree evaluation datum and a preventive and improving recommendation datum. 
         [0034]    In Step d, the cellular-age report is obtained. Particularly, the meta-analysis server  20  extracts the cellular aging  figure 22 , the personal aging degree evaluation datum and the preventive and improving recommendation datum, and performs processing and formalization so as to output a cellular-age report  60 . The cellular-age report  60  provides the client with a personalized life guide for retarding aging and improving health, thereby enhancing his/her health and reducing incidence of related diseases, so as to achieve the objective of preventive medicine. 
         [0035]    It is to be noted that the meta-analysis server  20  not only outputs the cellular-age report  60 , but also save it to the analytic result database  70 , so that the user can later track, retrieve and compare the analytic results at any time using the user interface  10 . The meta analysis of historical figures can provide healthcare personnel with the client&#39;s improvement over time. This enables the healthcare personnel to make health consulting service and health-improving recommendation more relevant to the current situation of the client, so as to better improve the client&#39;s health and quality of life.