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Natural Health News Articles
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| Posted: 8th August 2004 |
| Aging |
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The full causes of aging are not wholly known, but we believe that aging is probably the result of a combination of factors, including genes, environment and lifestyle.
There are various theories about how we age and why:
Programmed theories suggest that natural courses in the body simply trigger the process at a set timescaleOne theory believes the immune system to be responsible and that it naturally ‘winds down’, leading to disease, aging and deathAnother points to hormones believing that through life ‘programmed’ changes in the levels of certain hormones regulate and therefore control aging.
Damage, or error theories suggest that aging is as a result of the environment and that the body wears down, gradually unable to function adequately.
Another theory says that it may be the by-products of the body’s metabolism that damage the ability of the cells to function, until eventually the organs can no longer continueSunlight and toxins result in ‘free radicals’ and these free radicals begin the ‘wearing’ process.
One further theory suggests that impaired protein syntheses, the process by which cells produce protein, increases with time, damaging cells and causing the organs to age.
Symptoms
There are many physical effects of aging, including wrinkles, grey hair, slower reflexesThese are the ‘superficial’ indications of changes occurring in the bodyAs you age however changes occur to the organs and systems tooHow and when this occurs depends on many factors concerning the individual and it is different for everyoneExamples of the age-related changes that occur include changes in the –
Bones - as you age bones become less dense as they slowly lose mass and mineralsThis weakens the bones and makes them more susceptible to fracture.
Brain - the number of cells in the brain decreases with timeHowever, in some areas of the brain the number of connections between the cells increases, and this perhaps helps to compensate for the actual decrease in cells, and maybe helps to maintain normal brain function.
Cardiovascular system - the size of the heart increases. |
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