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-------------------- 2511 - AGING - starts at birth
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- In a few months I will be 78 years old and I can feel the ages. Some say it is not the years, it’s the miles. But, I first noticed it in my 40”s. I got headaches in the afternoon working on my work computer. My eyes were going farsighted and I had to wear reading glasses.
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- That worked for a long time, but, now I am starting to need glasses for driving and watching basketball on TV. Aging eyes loose focus. Aging eyes are more susceptible to glare, have poor ability to see in dim light. I am loosing the ability to catch a fast pitched ball. Well, it is not just eyes:
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- My knee joints and back feel the miles for sure. I can not begin to run. They just hurt. The slippery protective coverings over my joints are worn away. The tendons are tight and it hurts to stretch them out.
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- Once I am warmed up I can walk fine, but, forget running. I am thankful I can still walk. The brain is going too as I start to forget things. I am surrounded by notes, alarms, and mnemonics. Lung capacity is less, heart rate maximum has declined, spinal disks are out of whack, bones ache,…………. It is all aging.
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- Aging is what everybody does and it starts the moment you are born. I mean the moment you are conceived. Life begins when the sperm meets the egg and a single cell starts to grow and divide. That cell has evolved to survive and these are the only cells that do survive. The rest will return to dust in the long run.
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- The first cells reproduce by dividing. Soon cells begin to “specialize” and choose to give up their immortality. Specialized cells grow to become brain cells, nerve cells, heart cells, lung cells, blood cells……. These cells will try to survive as long as they can.
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- Damaged cells will be repaired. Cells will continue to grow and divide. But, eventually they will need more repairs than your metabolism will support. Aging is simply damaged cells that do not get repaired or divide anymore.
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- Every cell in the body is connected to a tiny blood vessel that provides it the nutrients it needs. If you stop breathing then oxygen is no longer delivered to the cells and they die. If your heart stops the blood lifeline to each cell is lost.
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- Cells are damaged all the time. Cosmic Rays damage cells. Proteins get damaged, free radicals disrupt membranes, DNA’s mutate, the list goes on. We always have and always are aging.
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- Life depends on continual repair and copying of its genetic data. Cells that specialize continue to repair but loose the role of continuing the species. The original cells live in the reproduction organs and are passed on at conception which again begins with a single cell. Actually, it is not just you, but a combination of you and your spouse. The new cell is actually a mix. The kids are actually mutts. We have 3 mutts and 7 grand mutts living in our same zip code.
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- Cells are designed to survive damages and achieve repairs long enough to reproduce. After surviving reproduction to survive the species the cells don’t much care anymore. The need for repairs begins to exceed the metabolism that is needed to do the repairs. Aging is the gradual lifelong accumulation of diverse forms of un-repaired molecular and cellular damage. Eventually, this leads to a breakdown of healthy functions.
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- Aging is complicated but the body’s cells care more about survival than managing the decline of old age. All evolving species have to make trade-offs. Under the intense pressure of natural selection cells end up placing a higher priority on investing in growth and reproduction. Once the life span has achieved this the job is done. Building the body will not last forever.
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- At least in most animals this is true. Oldest human was 122. But, turtles, lobsters, sea urchins, koi, and whales live 150 to 211 years. Pine trees for 1000 years. Hydra plants and jellyfish live forever (immortality).
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- What ever we are given and we pass on to our kids has evolved for millions of years in our lineage. There is not much we can do about it other than avoid accidents, stay healthy, and focus on making the best out of the time we have. Aging will catch up with us all.
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- Do you want to life a longer healthier life? Well you can. Just eat right and exercise. That should get you to age 80. If you want to live to 100 you need to get the right parents to give you the right genes.
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- That is it for now, but, humans have never excepted it. There are dozens of other formulas for a longer life that have been invented ever since the Fountain of Youth. Some are myths but some are well researched. Science has been working with mice and worms and have actually increased life spans by 40% to 1,000%.
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- There is a drug called “ Repamycin” that has mice living 40% longer. Some genetic modifications in worms has them loving 10 times longer. Aging is basically an accumulation of defects in cells that your body loses the ability to repair. As repairs falter the body gets weaker and is susceptible to cancer, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and a host of other diseases. Science is confident that all of these can be cured with the right drugs.
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- In fact, today, it is relatively easy to cure cancer in mice. But, for some reasons of increased complexity it is harder to cure these diseases in humans. After age 20 the likelihood of dying from one of these diseases doubles every 8 years. At 52 your are 16 times more susceptible than at 20. At 68 your are 128 times more susceptible.
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- Science has studied those among us that have lived to over 100 years. What they find is that most of them have these diseases but the diseases are progressing much more slowly in their bodies. Part of the reason has to be genetics. We know genetics in species cause different life spans.
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- Mice and rats live 3 and 4 years but squirrels that should be very similar live for 30 years. Dogs live for 20 years, chimps live for 30 years. Humans live for 60 years. For humans decrepitude starts to creep in at age 60. For some humans it is still creeping at age 100. Studies on this group reveal:
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-------------- only 2% are vegetarians.
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--------------- 0% even exercise enough to mention
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------------- 30% are over weight and have been since age 50.
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-------------- 30% smoke cigarettes, up to 2 packs a day.
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- So, what’s with this. They just have good genes.
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- What else can you do. Starve yourself. Yes, this seems to work. If rats are fed a starvation diet they tend to live 40% longer and remain active longer. Starving mice run the maze 3 times faster. Studies in calorie restriction has proven to extend life in yeast, protozoa, fruit flies, worms, spiders and monkeys. Calorie restriction improves cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, and prevents deterioration of the immune system.
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- If you are starving you have less body fat so your body does not have to work as hard to stay alive. That sounds good but the data does not hold up this theory.
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- If you are starving, calories restriction reduces the amount of toxic molecules in the body. Called free radicals, oxidation in the body, which is much the same as rust going on in nature, is rusting of the tissues.
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- If you eat less , you burn less fuel, your body produces fewer free radicals. Fruit flies that are fed anti-oxidants live 50% longer. However, anti-oxidants fed to rats gets no improvements. The results are just not consistent.
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- There is a rat living in Kenya, Africa, naked mole rats that live to be 30 years old. Their cousins in the U.S. live to be 4 years old. Antioxidants seem to have no effect in either species.
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- Ok, finally, here is the one I like. The “Resveratrol” in red wine has the effect of hyper activating the sirtum gene leading to a longer life. This was discovered in France where people live relatively long lives despite their fat-rich diets. Reservatrol is a drug that tricks the body into “ thinking” it is on a calorie-restricted diet, even , though that is not the case. Other than wine marketing studies science has not substantiated these claims. But, I , for one, am not taking any chances.
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- Ok, there is the “nematode” worm that lives 10 times longer than normal fish worms when the worm is fed on an “insulin” reduction diet. The worms and mice that are genetically insensitive to insulin live the longest.
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- When we eat sugar or starch the body secretes insulin and IGF ( Insulin-like Growth Factor) hormones. These two hormones regulate metabolism , fat storage, and reproduction activity. When food is scarce, insulin and IGF levels go down. The body shifts its resources from growth and reproduction towards maintenance, repairing and protecting cells.
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- Research has found the FOXO gene found to effect Hawaiian, Japanese, German, and Chinese longevity. The problem is that although drugs may give some mice huge benefits, another strain of mice may have no effect. Still another strain of mice actually experience a negative effect. So what works for the Japanese may not help Mexicans.
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- The bottom line, we need more research on aging. Science will likely be successful in extending healthy life spans by 25%. Most of us will be dead before the answers are discovered. I am going to stay on the red wine diet in the meantime.
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- Kids, get a good education because you have to be smart enough to continue these discovers on how the body works, then live long and prosper.
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- You will become smart enough to give your granddad a shot of microorganisms that will dismantle and haul out the molecular trash that has built up over the years and deliver engineered genes and therapeutic cells that will refurbish old cells that have gone un-repaired. He should live to be 1,000.
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- November 30, 2019 2511 1198 1191
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--------------------- Saturday, November 30, 2019 --------------------
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