Ways on how to slow the aging process is a frequent topic of research and development. However, before slowing the aging process it is essential to know what aging really is.
What Aging Really Is
Aging for human is a process that begins in our twenties. Aging begins for women around the age of twenty-five and for men approximately twenty-eight. We are often deceived with the belief that aging starts much earlier. The aging process has for long been debated in medical science as either being a natural process or a disease. However, aging is not natural as it happens differently to every human being. In reality, aging is caused by a collection of different degenerative processes that does ultimately cause death.
Most of the causes for death are associated with aging. These include degenerative health problems such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and arterial blockages. Moreover, in the list of the 15 top causes for death there are only four, which are not associated with aging. They are HIV, Suicide, accidents and murder.
In general, degenerative diseases or rather aging is responsible for an estimated of 85 percent of all deaths in the United States. A list has been provided from National Vital Statistic Reports, Deaths: Leading Causes for 2002.
Leading Causes of Death in the United States of America (2002)
1. Disease of heart –696,947
2. Malignant neoplasms - 557,271
3. Cerebrovascular disease –162,672
4. Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease –124,816
5. Unintentional injuries - 106,742
6. Diabetes Mellitus – 73,249
7. Influenza and pneumonia - 65,681
8. Alzheimer’s Disease - 58,866
9. Nephritis, Nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis - 40,974
10. Septicemia – 33,865
SOURCE: National Vital Statistics Reports, Deaths: Leading Causes for 2002, October 2004
These are all preventable diseases that we should emphatically stop. For instance, aging is the underlying cause for Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis and atherosclerosis. Medical practitioners are trying to bring forward a formula that can cure these diseases. Unfortunately, most of the mechanisms of these diseases are still unclear. However, progressively scientists are being able to comprehend the mechanisms. For example, we know various determinants that cause cancer. Cancer can be derived from viral, physical, chemical damage to a cell’s DNA. The consequence of these damages is that the cell is unable to control cellular growth and this becomes an integral part of the organism. These cells act in a group and reproduce very fast. They steal resources needed by other cells and therefore, creates an imbalance growth of cells.
According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 80 percent of all cancers can be prevented. Surely, genetics is also a determinant of cancer but the greatest cause is the constant damage imposed on our body through the environment in which we live in. In simple terms by monitoring where you live, what you eat and drink, the air you breathe and your exposure to chemicals can significantly decrease the accumulation of DNA damage over a lifespan.
A healthy lifestyle; not drinking and smoking and eating healthy diets, can decrease the speed at which we age. Why is this so?
Our human body is a sophisticated machine. It has maintenance and repair abilities. However, what we do not fully understand is why our repair systems stop working as we age. The damage thereafter is accumulative. Cells turn out to become dysfunctional, cancerous or even dies. Due to the rapid depletion of the cells, stem cells which are available but in restriction quantity cannot adequately replace the degenerative effects on our organism and aging is the outcome.
Some Causes for degenerative mechanisms
1. Oxidative Damage – including damage to mitochondria, DNA and enzymes
2. Accumulative damage – Lipofuscin
3. Damage to Proteins
4. DNA Damage – causing damage to nuclear genomes and mitochondrial
5. Chemical modification to your DNA – altered genes expression – on or off –
It is common sense that the more we expose our body to toxic substances the faster is the repair mechanism likely to break down. A very common type of damage caused to our body is through “reactive oxygen species” (ROS) or “free radical”. It is the main cause of oxidative stress/ oxidative damage. Free radicals do cause damage to molecules that are responsible for the generation of energy. The energy is produced within a cell’s mitochondria. The mitochondria are responsible for converting food consumed into a usable energy for the cell. In this process oxygen is involved to create highly reactive molecules, which remains in our mitochondria. Our mitochondria have various antioxidant procedures to remove and make these reactive less dangerous to our body.
However, through aging and extreme stress, systems, which remove and detoxify our body from ROSs are unable to keep up. The worse occur when these molecules are able to get outside the mitochondria. They will subsequently cause severe damage to tissues found nearby. Moreover, in our immune systems, there are also cells, which release ROSs to eliminate invaders. This is one of the reasons why inflammation can instead of be good, be harmful. Inflammation does sometime destroy our own tissues while it eradicates invaders.
In other words, inflammation is the body’s way to defend against toxins, infections or injuries. Some examples are swellings from mosquito bites, sprains or cuts. Moreover, this swelling process does equally occur within our body.
Decreasing inflammation occurring inside our body can reduce our risk of cancer and heart disease by roughly 50 percent. It can also be a potential solution for treating arthritis, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Inflammation is also known to induce acidity. Moreover, recent studies show that glutathione nutritionally decreases the level of chronic inflammation.
In our body, the molecules that are badly affected by reactive oxygen species are our DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). Moreover, DNA is the construct of our genes, or rather the genetic code that results in humans as us. The effect of having DNA negatively reacting to ROS is that it can cause certain gene to switch off and other on. The outcome can be cancerous cells.
Cross-Linking
ROSs are also responsible for a damaged referred to as cross-linking. When two molecules that aren’t supposed to join come together, cross-linking has occurred. A common cross-linking molecule is LDL (low-density lipoprotein). LDL is the bad cholesterol that we all are afraid-off. The LDL when oxidized turns into a clump that will be placed inside veins and other significant regions. The new oxidized molecule that is formed is useless and can cause tremendous harm if it keeps building up. These molecules are known to be present in blocking plaques as well in brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
However, LDL does not always cause harm. For instance, large LDL particles are known to be harmless, yet smaller LDL particles are fatal. Cholesterol itself is something necessary and good. The only problem with cholesterol is that when it starts to oxidize. It is thus fundamental to regulate our cholesterol level. An abnormally high or low cholesterol level indicates that there is an imbalance in the body.
Glycation is also used to refer to cross-linking. Nevertheless, this process is associated with sugar being tangled up with either protein or fat molecules. The outcome is that the molecules either become non-functional or deformed. Unfortunately, we do hardly see or feel what happen inside our body. It is only the end results that are seen from free-radical damage. The signs can be displayed in forms skin aging, arthritis, blindness and cataracts. (Definitely the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes rises)
How to Address These Damages
The methods to avoid free radicals are to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and diet. The diet can avoid damage by providing high anti-oxidant molecules, and also fewer calories. The effect is that the mitochondria are able to easily handle the free glucose present in the blood. This supplemented with exercise can enforce the effect of anti-oxidants. Physical exercise also helps to better eradicate waste from the body.
Moreover, smoking, toxins, alcohol as well as water and air pollution do also cause damage to molecules in our body. The immense damage caused by alcohol and cigarettes shows how effective our repair system really is.
Telomeres
Apart from the degenerative diseases, there are other reasons for aging. An example is the biological clock known as telomeres. These telomeres can cause cell to stop operating as you age. When our body’s repair damage to assure proper metabolism, there are several negative effects that happen to our endocrine and immune system. Unfortunately, these mechanisms are not well understood. They can therefore, not be repaired, with our actual state of technology. Telomere shortening does affects various parts of our body such as organs, joints and cells.
New Theory of Aging
Most scientists agree that aging is a downgrading spiral. It is a result of accumulating wear and tear from DNA damage, oxidative stress, toxins, diseases and stress. However, Stanford University Medical School Research suggests that certain genetic codes define our aging process.
Nonetheless, it does not really matter if aging is a cause of chemistry or regulation of genes. The aging process can theoretically be slowed down or even stopped. It will probably not take long to stop or slow aging, as we know the speed at which biomedical knowledge has been advancing. At our surprise stupendous breakthroughs are announced daily.
Imposed Or controlled
According to research and testing genetics is only responsible for an estimated 25 to 35 percent of our aging speed. Lifestyle and other factors appear to be more important. In simple terms, the remaining is influenced by our metabolism, which can be controlled to a great deal. The anabolic metabolism, for example, is responsible for the restoring and regeneration activities within our body. The catabolic activity explains the degeneration and breakdowns of our system. In other words, if ever our catabolic activity is faster than our anabolic activity then we will age faster. However, if the reverse would occur, we could practically reverse the aging process.
Health & Longevity: An Economic Perspective
According to a research conducted by Harvard University, it was concluded that almost 50 percent of all bankruptcy that was filled in the United States of America had a direct relation with high medical expenses. Moreover, roughly 15 percent of America’s GDP is devoted for medical care. This amounts to a total sum of $ 6,280 per person. The trend is also worsening; from 1993 to 2004 the medical expenditure experienced an increase by 100 percent. National Coalition on Health Care expects this increasing expenditure trend to persist. In 2015, it is predicted that health care expenditure in the US will account for an estimated 20 percent of GDP, which will be around $4 trillion.
Healthy living can save much money for the government. It can also reduce taxes severely. In other words, longevity is directly linked with wealth.
The most granted way to combat aging is to slow its accumulative process. Aging can be defeated with a healthy lifestyle and diet. Biomedical advancement will certainly offer more solutions in the years to come, to prolong or to extend life indefinitely.
Source: Maximum Life Foundation: David A. Kekich, CEO, Maximum Life Foundation
Anti Aging, Anti Aging Theories, Bioscience, Health And Aging, Longevity
Fri, Jun 25, 2010
Anti Aging, Anti Aging Theories, Bioscience, Health And Aging, Longevity