Do We Have to Grow Old?
What causes aging? Can we stop it somehow?
If you're still alive, you're growing older every day.
You may not notice it, but you are.
When we make that great shift out of our teenage years into our
twenties, most of the changes we encounter about growing older
are good.
Whe we are in our twenties, growing older means a lot more
freedom and a lot of adventure. Physically, we are at our peak
of perfection.
In our thirties, we are starting to enjoy many of the benefits
of growing older as we accumulate more wisdom and in most cases,
continue to have a body and a brain that's still in great shape.
But there comes a time, perhaps in our fifth decade, or in our
sixth, when growing older starts to have some negative effects
we don't really like.
We may not be as physically fit as we used to be. We start to
get sags and bags. We get aches and pains. We may be showing
some forgetfulness.
Our beautiful perfection of youth is gone.
Why do we age?
Over the centuries, people have often wondered how it is that
our bodies grow and develop from a tiny fertilized egg, to a
newborn baby, to a young child, then a teenager and, finally, a
young adult. A huge number of very complex changes within our
bodies must happen perfectly in order to achieve this.
Once we grow into our adult perfection, why can't we just stay
there? Why do we have to age?
And can we stop it?
Doctors and scientists used to take aging for granted.
Scientists used to think that because aging was a natural
process, there was no need to investigate it.
Now, as increasing numbers of baby boomers are turning fifty,
anxious to hang on to some semblance of youth, more and more
research is being devoted to the topic of aging.
Scientists are trying to find out how and why we age, and they
are investigating possible ways to slow down the aging process,
or perhaps even stop it altogether.
If new ways are found to extend physical and mental health for
the aging population, the benefits to society will be enormous.
Although all of us want to live a long time, none of us wants to
spend our final years in physical pain or suffering from mental
decline.
Scientists have been able to identify some of the factors that
influence the process of aging, and new knowledge is
accumulating at a rapid rate. Dozens of theories to explain
aging have been proposed, but it seems that aging is a very
complex, and several processes are interlinked.
Here are some of the current theories about why we age:
Hayflick Limit Theory - Two scentists in the 1960s noticed that
many human cells would divide a limited number of times, then
stop. If the cells were well fed, they divided faster. Body
cells may have a built-in genetic program that tells them not to
reproduce anymore.
Free Radical Theory - Free radicals are molecules or atoms that
have an unpaired electron. In order to be electrically balanced,
these molecules or atoms will grab an electron from a nearby
atom, thereby creating another free radical, eventually
resulting in a cascading chain of damage to cells and organs.
Free radical formation may not account for all the symptoms of
aging, but it probably does play an important part in
accelerating cellular damage. Free radicals are unavoidable.
They are an inevitable consequence of living in a physical body.
However, there are steps we can take to slow down free radical
damage, such as avoiding pollutants, and eating a lot of fresh
fruits and vegetables.
The Telomere Theory - Telomeres are special types of chemicals
that seem to have some ability to protect the chromosomes inside
our cells. Every time our cells divide, the telemeres become
shorter and less able to protect the chromosome. This may
explain why the cells eventually become damaged and die.
Scientists are currently trying to find out how to repair
telomeres and stop the damage to the cells.
Glycation - When proteins in your body react with excess blood
sugar, the proteins become damaged. This process is known as
"glycation". These sugar-damaged proteins may contribute to the
breakdown of many other systems in the body. People who have
diabetes or problems with insulin resistance are particularly
vulnerable to glycation damage because of abnormalities in their
blood sugar levels.
If it turns out to be true that glycation plays a major part in
causing the negative effects of aging, we may be able to slow it
down by making sure we avoid excess blood sugar levels.
Here are some other factors that play a part in aging:
-We experience a steep decline in hormone production in our
later years -Our body becomes less efficient at detoxifying -The
DNA in our cells becomes damaged -A life time of exposure to
stress and environmental toxins in our air, food and water
overwhelms our body's repair systems.
These are some of the explanations for why we age, but it's not
a complete picture. At the present time, we don't yet know all
the reasons for this process. And so far, there is no single
magic bullet to stop it.
If scientists can learn how to slow down the process of aging,
we will be able to spend many more happy years enjoying our
lives while maintaining our peak of physical perfection.
And that's something to look forward to!