An interdisciplinary ageing alliance: cellular metabolism over a life-course in socioeconomic disadvantaged populations

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Not everyone ages well, many people live their last years in ill health. People living in more affluent areas live significantly longer than people living in deprived areas, who spend nearly a third of their lives in poor health. This health inequality is even more evident between different ethnic groups, where Asian and Black people in Britain are twice as likely to live in poverty compared with White people.This inequality can be caused by many factors but one key reason that may unify disadvantaged populations are changes in cellular metabolism, in other words the way cells respond to the sugars and fats we eat. Many common diseases of older age result from changes in the balance of sugars and fats used by cells of the body. Asian people in Britain are twice as likely to live in poverty and their diet could directly alter their cellular metabolism. Therefore, we want to investigate how changes in cell metabolism influence life outcomes. Cellular metabolism is not just related to a person's biology such as the genes that they carry, but is influenced by events before a person is born and during childhood as well as environmental factors. For example, where you live and the availability of fresh food will impact on cellular metabolism. Deprived areas have up to 5 times the number of fast food outlets compared to affluent areas. Also, the ability to exercise, having green spaces and places to walk to are all part and parcel of this apparent health inequality. Therefore, having a full understanding of how changes in cellular metabolism influence health throughout the life course is essential if we are to identify ways of addressing this ageing health inequality. In order to achieve this, we need to bring together researchers from many different disciplines to investigate the biology of people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, the nutrition they are exposed to as well as external contributors of health inequality such as housing, geography and the environment. We will then work together to determine collectively how all these things impact cell metabolism and healthy ageing. The lead applicants are based at QMUL in East London and have formed links with other places serving areas of social deprivation across England. It is hoped that this network, put together from many different backgrounds and disciplines, can collectively think of new solutions to tackle the health inequality of ageing.