Anti-aging Research and Discussion: Why We Age

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Firstly this is a new and interactive anti-aging and general life extension resource for anyone who is interested in the cellular processes of aging and senescence.

Here you will find a variety of life extension articles and pages relating to how DNA and chromosomes become damaged during the progress of an organisms lifetime. Damage that occurs primarily due to Free Radicals, high energy oxidants, which are produced as a by-product of the cells natural metabolic processes.

The second thing that this site aims to accomplish is to outline how anti-aging intracellular mechanisms such as free radical scavengers - Glutathione Peroxidase, Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase being prime examples, DNA repair enzymes and other intracellular processes attempt to slow down the damage to cells and organisms, which are inevitable consequences of aging.

We then discuss the current research into retarding the processes involved in aging and show how longevity has been increased in a variety of organisms through both genetic and dietary manipulation.

To help to make this site easier to follow and to gain knowledge from it, I will begin (as I will in each section of the site) with a few definitions. On this first page, the logical definitions to introduce are those of Aging, Senescence and Anti-aging.

Aging or ageing

Aging can be defined as any change to an individual organism over time.  Aging is associated with several interdependent processes.  These processes are physical, social and psychological in nature.  Aging usually affects negatively physiological attributes such as strength, reaction time and the ability to fight disease.

Senescence

This can be defined as the gradual accumulation of damage and loss of functionality in an organism as it ages.

Anti-aging

Anti-aging includes a number of preventative measures and treatments that together help to reduce the level of senescence that an organism experiences as it ages.  Anti-aging measures include exercising, eating a healthy and nutritious diet and taking various hormonal supplements as our bodies gradually produce lower levels of their own hormones. 

If you Create a Why We Age Login Account, then you will be able to add your own pages, articles or blogs to this site or comment on any existing articles, blogs or pages.

Enjoy the site. I hope that you find it enlightening!

Mark S D’Arcy

Articles

  • What is Gerontology

    I think it might be worth defining on this site (just so there is no confusion) what exactly the science of Gerontology is.

    The subject known as Gerontology is the study of the process of aging throughout the lifespan of an individual. This multi-disciplinary subject analyses a variety of aspects of aging, including the physical, mental and social changes in individuals as they grow older. Professionals from a variety of diverse, but interconnected fields are known collectively as gerontologists.

    Gerontology covers such varied subjects as the effects of our aging population on society, including the financial effects of pensions, health insurance and retirement planning. How society itself views the elderly is also encompassed in this field.

    Gerontology distinguishes itself from geriatrics, the branch of medicine that studies the diseases of the old.

    12:18 10 October 2007
  • Research into Aging

    There are several other ways that are being looked into that may offer may anti-aging/life extension benefits that have not been mentioned as yet. IGF-1 has shown to be extraordinarily effective in reversing the aging process (up to 10X more effective than HGH). Resveratrol (found in red grape skins and hence red wine) has shown much promise in many studies; to the extent that several MIT researches doing one of the studies started supplimenting with it. Folate and B12 taken daily over a few months has been shown to drastically reduce the damage/mutation that can occur to DNA.

    With regard to calorie restriction Many studies suggest that it is not infact the calorie restriction as previously thought but rather maintaining low insulin levels, which happens to be a by product. So it is as much about what you eat as how much you eat. You could still each 3000 calories a day as long as they were from foods that didnt spike your insulin levels and mess with your insulin sensetivity ie not eating many simple carbohydrates etc

    There is also the energetic side of body or life force or call it what you will that when boosted has been shown to reverse chronic illness and aging with no form of supplements etc. Most of the centurian populations like the hunza etc incorporated some sort of meditation or practice that maintained their life force either knowingly or otherwise along with a good diet, exercise, sun etc and low stress.

    On a final note the human body is so remarkable and truely an amazing creation and we are still only so limited in our understanding of it and how it really works that rather than mess with it and start trying to fix or add this or that or think we can make part of it better we should instead address the cause of most of these problems. We drive ourselves and our bodies into the ground eat rubbish etc and program ourselve with mindless entertainment and wonder why we are falling apart and expect to be able to take a few pills and make it all better.

    We are creating and living in a society that is becoming void of any real sustanance whether it be nutritional, emotional or intellecutal. I am not pretending that i have all the answers but i know that if we keep heading in this direction i wouldnt want to live forever even if it were possible. What you do with your life is probably more important than how long it is. In any case given the right environment the body will flourish and the fact that it is still doing as well as it is despite what it is now subjected to is nothing more than a testement to how great it actually is.

    Rhonda Watson

    12:07 17 September 2007

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