Anti-aging

What is the secret to aging?

• What is the secret to a long life?
• Is it in our genetic code?
• Is it where we live or how we live?
• Is it something you do or don’t do?
• Is it something you eat or don’t eat?

Biochemistry and Aging

Proteins, in their many forms and functions, are the primary substances responsible for the day-to-day functions of living organisms. Some of these proteins appear to affect how we age and how long we live.

The biochemistry of aging is a field yet to be fully explored

• Oxygen radicals and glycated proteins, both of which cause cellular damage;
• Substances that prevent and repair damage
• Heat-shock proteins, hormones, and growth factors.

Oxygen free radicals

According to the theory of aging, damage caused by oxygen free radicals is responsible for many of the changes that occur in the human body. Oxygen free radicals have been implicated not only in aging but also in degenerative changes, including cancer, atherosclerosis, cataracts, and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxygen free radicals damage cells and can contribute to the aging of tissues and organs. Oxygen free radicals are a byproduct of normal metabolism, produced as cells convert food and oxygen into energy. Oxygen free radicals damage proteins, membranes, and nucleic acids—particularly DNA, including mitochondrial DNA, the intracellular organelle that produces energy.

Antioxidants such as:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• β-carotene
• Enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase,

are the body’s defense against oxygen free radicals.

They prevent most, though not all, oxidative damage.

Little by little, the damage accumulates and causes deterioration of tissues and organs.

A Japanese man lived to be 120 years and 237 days old. As far as we know, this is the longest any human has ever lived. He died of pneumonia in 1986!

Most geriatricians say that the secret likely lies in a combination of genetic inheritance, environment, and lifestyle.

But gerontologists also raise other questions that are a bit harder to answer:

• If the 120-year-old man hadn’t ultimately succumbed to pneumonia, would he have lived even longer?
• Or was he approaching some intrinsic, insurmountable biological limit?
• Is there a maximum human lifespan beyond which one cannot live, regardless of how favorable one’s genes or surrounding environment may be?

And regardless of whether or not that limit exists,

• what happens as we age?
• What are the dynamics of this process?
• And how do these dynamics shape our lifespan, making it shorter, average, or longer?
• And if we understand these dynamics, will we be able to use them to extend everyone’s life to 120 years or more?

And finally, the no less important question:

How can we use this knowledge to combat the diseases and health issues associated with old age, to ensure that this stage of life is healthy, active, and independent?

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