Details of a technique to measure the health of human genetic material in relation to a patient's age will be published by Jove on May 22nd.

"Think of telomere length as though it was a thermometer. It measures the health of your genetic material," Dr. Atzmon explains. "It tells you how fit you are in relation to the age you are. If you have longer telomeres you are in good shape, if you have shorter telomeres you are less fit for your age and are not in good health."
Dr. Atzmon hopes that publication of this article will impact the ageing community by classifying health relative to an individual's age. "I published in JoVE because I want more people to use the technique. As we [the medical community] collect more data, we can build a better index of age and health by population, and more accurately place a patient on the right spot in a continuum."
Adoption of this technique will allow clinicians to monitor a patient's health as they are treated, by comparing telomere degradation of a sick patient to other patients with that disease and to determine if treatment is slowing degradation. Dr. Kira Henderson, JoVE Editor and Director of Review, explains, "Telomere length and telomerase function impacts several realms of biological and medical research- from preventative aging models to cancer treatments. Maintaining the telomere is a pre-requisite to extending life and improving long-term health. It is our hope that the application of this JoVE video-article will elucidate relationships between disease state and telomere function and encourage advancement in this important field of study.
Source-Newswise