Aging can be defined as a rise in the risk of death due to intrinsic causes, implying the failure of one or more organs or systems vital to life. In simple terms, we don’t die due to old age but rather due to a failure of organ/s that are too old to weak to keep working correctly.
There are several schools of thought on this subject. The first dominant school argues that aging is caused by damage, forms of wear and tear to cells and tissues, and that damage leads to characteristic changes and failures in our biology. The second, lesser school argues that aging is an evolved program of distinct changes and failures in our biology that cause damage and eventual death.
It is a mark of how complex aging is under the hood that the research community can accurately measure all sorts of damage, changes, and failures that accompany aging but still have room to argue over whether damage causes change or change causes damage.
Is there a relationship between Aging and Disease?
Yes, there is a significant relationship between aging and disease. According to Dr. Felipe Sierra, the Director of the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute on Aging (NIH), aging itself is a major risk factor for nearly all age-related diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes. As we grow older, the likelihood of developing these diseases increases, primarily due to the biological processes associated with aging. Traditional medicine tends to treat each disease in isolation, but aging is the underlying factor that drives multiple health issues as people get older.
The field of geroscience aims to address this connection by focusing on the biological mechanisms of aging. By targeting aging itself, instead of just individual diseases, geroscientists believe it’s possible to improve overall health, reduce the onset of multiple diseases, and extend the period of active, healthy living. Interventions like senolytics and Rapamycin, which target aging processes, have shown promise not only in extending lifespan but also in enhancing health, further illustrating the strong link between aging and disease.
In essence, aging and disease are deeply interconnected, and by addressing the biology of aging, we may find more effective ways to combat multiple age-related conditions at once.
also read Geroscience the mechanisms of aging and age-related disease
Can we the stop, slow down or reverse aging?
Recent findings suggest it may be possible to slow down or even reverse biological aging. A small clinical trial in California showed that a combination of growth hormone and two diabetes drugs reduced the biological age of nine healthy volunteers by an average of 2.5 years. The trial also rejuvenated the participants’ immune systems, particularly by regenerating the thymus gland, which declines with age.
Led by geneticist Steve Horvath, the study found a significant reversal of the epigenetic clock, a marker of biological aging. While promising, the trial was small and lacked a control group, so more research is needed. However, the results indicate that targeting aging processes could potentially extend both lifespan and healthspan.
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