How much a person is given for life, few people can say why a person grows old. Scientists have long been wondering: what happens in the body and triggers the aging process? Cells can divide, and it would seem that the body will be forever young, healthy and live forever, but it turns out that our cells can be renewed up to a certain number of times, and then the time comes for illness and the aging process, which leads to death, the inability of cells to renew.
There are many theories regarding various aspects as the root cause of aging, but today the real cause is known, which no one can deal with.
Why does a person age, the main theories
Some scientists say that aging begins with a process of protein damage and breakdown. And protein, as we already know, is the building material of our body, in particular bones. Other researchers see death genes that start to become active in old age. Another opinion: the body accumulates pollution, if the dose of garbage in the body exceeds the allowable one, then the sequence of diseases starts, the body becomes exhausted and dies.
There is also an immunological theory. Which one to believe is everyone's business. The true reason why a person ages and cell death begins is in our genetic code.
How does the aging process happen
Aging begins due to shortening of telomere length – it is the final section of the genetic code (DNA). Telomeres are designed to protect chromosomes from sticking to each other, which can lead to loss of information. Such conclusions were made by scientists in the process of monitoring the life of young cells and in the process of their aging. The length of telomeres in the genes of young cells differs from those of aged ones.
DNA telomeres in young cells are longer than the ends in old cells. When the telomere breaks down, the cell dies. The cell has the ability to divide until its telomere is destroyed.
Such a theory had to find explanations and arguments. Experiments were carried out on mice. Geneticists artificially shortened the telomeres of a DNA cell in a healthy young mouse. The shorter the telomere became, the more diseases that characterize the aging process appeared. The results obtained served as proof of the theory of the dependence of youth and aging on the length of telomeres in cells.
When telomere shortening, the following diseases occur: arthritis, arthrosis, degenerative and dystrophic processes, diseases associated with the cardiovascular system, disorders of the nervous system, osteoporosis, changes in the skin.
Depends on telomere length:
- biological index of cell age;
- life span of a human organism;
- start time of senile diseases.
The length of telomeres is significantly reduced by the number of cell divisions, and not only. Also, the life of the cell depends on such factors: & nbsp; the presence of inflammatory processes, emotional breakdowns and depressions, with physical injuries, a running process of oxidation in the body. Another important factor is the increase in homocysteine in the body.
How to stop the aging process
Based on the results of genetic studies, we can distinguish 7 recommendations for maintaining youth and longevity:
Tip 1. Protect yourself by lowering homocysteine in the body. This amino acid is found in the blood, which sets the process of destruction of telomeres into action. Therefore, consume more folic acid and B vitamins.
Tip 2: Ensure adequate intake of vitamin C, the lack of which triggers the destruction of telomeres.
Tip 3. Stop being nervous, minimize stress and depression. To do this, meditation, rest and reboot of your nervous system, change of place of residence, way of communication, maybe even lifestyle will help.
Tip 4. Minimize, or better yet, give up junk food, alcohol and smoking, and other oxidants.
Tip 5. Start exercising, jogging in the morning, go to the gym, walk more and enjoy life.
Tip 6: Get plenty of omega-3s.
Tip 7. Don't get angry, throw away the negativism, feel the positive attitude of life energy.
You will be interested in: Interview with geneticist Alexander Kolyada: "What we have learned about the aging process over the past 120 years"
How to stay young
What can we do to prevent the telomeres in our genetic code from shortening their length? There is such an enzyme – telomerase, which can increase the length of telomeres. It occurs in germ, embryonic and stem cells. These cells can divide forever, their telomeres do not shorten. But, nevertheless, so far not a single scientist has been able to create a drug that would turn back time and abolish old age. We just have to follow the recommendations to stop the aging of the body a little and look younger.
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