The "Wear and Tear" Theory
Dr. August Weismann,
a German biologist, first introduced this theory in 1882. He believed that
the body and its cells were damaged by overuse and abuse. The organs, liver,
stomach, kidneys, skin and so on are worn down by toxins in our diet and in
the environment; by the excessive consumption of fat, sugar, caffeine, alcohol
and nicotine; by the ultra-violet rays of the sun and by the many other physical
and emotional stresses to which we subject our bodies. Wear and tear is not
confined to our organs, however; it also takes place on the cellular level.
course even if you've never touched a cigarette or had a glass of wine,
stayed out of the sun and eaten only natural foods, simply using the organs
that nature endowed you is going to wear them out. Abuse will only wear
them out more quickly. Likewise as the body ages our very cells feel the
effect, no matter how healthy our life style.
By the same token nutritional supplements
and other treatments covered in this book can help reverse the aging process
by stimulating the body's own ability to repair and maintain its organs and
cells.
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The Neuroendocrine Theory
This theory developed by Vladimir Dilman, Ph.D.,
elaborates on the wear and tear theory by focusing on the neuroendocrine system,
the complicated network of biochemicals that governs the release of our hormones
and other vital bodily elements. When we are young, our hormones work together
to regulate many bodily functions, including our responses to heat and cold,
our life experiences and our sexual activity. Different organs release various
hormones all under the governance of the hypothalamus, a walnut-sized gland
located within the brain.
The hypothalamus sets off various chain reactions
whereby an organ releases a hormone which in turn stimulates the release of
another hormone, which in turn stimulates yet another bodily response. The
hypothalamus responds to the body's hormone levels as its guide to regulating
hormonal activity.
When we're young hormone levels tend to be high,
accounting for among other things, menstruation in women and high libido in
both sexes. As we age the body produces lower levels of hormones which can
have disastrous effects on our functioning. The growth hormones that help
us form muscle mass, hGH, testosterone and thyroid, for example, drop dramatically
as we age so that even if an elderly person has not gained weight, he or she
has undoubtedly increased the ratio of fat-to-muscle.
Hormones are vital for repairing and regulating
our bodily functions, and when aging causes a drop in hormone production,
it causes a decline in our body's ability to repair and regulate itself as
well. Moreover hormone production is highly interactive. The drop in production
of any one hormone is likely to have a feedback effect on the whole mechanism,
signaling other organs to release lower levels of other hormones which will
cause other body parts to release lower levels of yet other hormones.
Thus hormone replacement therapy, a frequent
component of any anti-aging treatment, helps to reset the body's hormonal
clock and so can reverse or delay the effects of aging. If our hormones are
being produced at youthful levels in a very real sense the cells of our bodies
are stimulated to be metabolically active and thus we stay young.
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The Genetic Control Theory
This planned-obsolescence theory
focuses on the genetic programming encoded within our DNA. We are born with
a unique genetic code, a predetermined tendency to certain types of physical
and mental functioning, and that genetic inheritance has a great deal to say
about how quickly we age and how long we live. To use a macabre analogy it's
as though each of us comes into the world as a machine that is preprogrammed
to self-destruct. Each of us has a biological clock ticking away set to go
off at a particular time, give or take a few years. When that clock goes off
it signals our bodies first to age and then to die.
However, as with all aspects of
our genetic inheritance the timing on this genetic clock is subject to enormous
variation, depending on what happens to us as we grow up and on how we actually
live (the old "nature versus nurture" debate).
Anti-aging medicine addresses this issue by augmenting
the basic building blocks of DNA within each of our cells, preventing damage
to and increasing repair of DNA. In this way we believe anti-aging treatment
can help us escape our genetic destinies, at least to some extent.
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The Free Radical Theory
This exciting development in anti-aging
research was first introduced by R. Gerschman in 1954, but was developed by
Dr. Denham Harman of the University of Nebraska, College of Medicine. "Free
radical" is a term used to describe any molecule that differs from conventional
molecules in that it possesses a free electron, a property that makes it react
with other molecules in highly volatile and destructive ways.
In a conventional molecule the electrical
charge is balanced. Electrons come in pairs so that their electrical energies
cancel each other out. Atoms that are missing electrons combine with atoms
that have extra electrons, creating a stable molecule with evenly paired electrons
and a neutral electrical charge.
The free radical on the other hand
has an extra negative charge. This unbalanced electrical energy tends to make
the free radical attach itself to other molecules as it tries to steal a matching
electron to attain electrical equilibrium. Some scientist speak of these free
radicals as "promiscuous," breaking up the happy marriages of paired electrons
in neighboring molecules in order to steal an electron "partner" for themselves.
In doing so they create free radicals and extensive bodily damage.
Free-radical activity within the
body is not only or even primarily negative. Without free-radical activity,
that is without biochemical electricity, we would not be able to produce energy,
maintain immunity, transmit nerve impulses, synthesize hormones or even contract
our muscles. The body's electricity enables us to perform these functions
and that electricity comes from the unbalanced electron activity of free radicals.
But free radicals also attack the
structure of our cell membranes, creating metabolic waste products, including
substances known as lipofuscins. An excess of lipofuscins in the body is shown
as a darkening of the skin in certain areas, so-called "aging spots." Lipofuscins
in turn interfere with the cells ability to repair and reproduce themselves.
They disturb DNA and RNA synthesis, interfere with synthesis of protein, lower
our energy levels, prevent the body from building muscle mass and destroy
cellular enzymes, which are needed for vital chemical processes.
This type of free-radical damage
begins at birth and continue until we die. In our youth its effects are relatively
minor since the body has extensive repair and replacement mechanisms that
in healthy young people function to keep cells and organs in working order.
With age however the accumulated effects of free-radical damage begin to take
their toll. Free-radical disruption of cell metabolism is part of what ages
our cells; it may also create mutant cells leading ultimately to cancer and
death.
Free radicals attack collagen and
elastin, the substances that keep our skin moist, smooth, flexible and elastic.
These vital tissues fray and break under the assaults of free radicals, a
process particularly noticeable in the face, where folds of skin and deep-cut
wrinkles are testaments to the long-term effect of free-radical damage.
Another way of looking at free-radical
changes is to think of its as oxidation, the process of adding oxygen to a
substance. Another word for oxidation is rust and in a sense our aging process
is analogous to the rusting away of a once-intact piece of metal. Because
forms of oxygen itself are free radicals, our very breathing and our otherwise
healthy aerobic exercise generate free radicals that help along the aging
process.
Substances that prevent the harmful
effects of oxidation are known as antioxidants. Natural antioxidants include
vitamin C, vitamin E and beta carotene, the substance that our body uses to
produce vitamin A. Specialists in anti-aging medicine prescribe a host of
natural and manufactured antioxidants to help combat the effects of aging.
Another substance that combats free-radical
damage is known as a free-radical scavenger. Free-radical scavengers actually
seek out free radicals and harmlessly bind them before they can attach themselves
to other molecules and/or cause cross-linking. As we'll see in subsequent
chapters many vitamins and minerals and other substances fight aging by acting
as free-radical scavengers.
Other theories of aging that have
been proposed throughout the years are:
Waste Accumulation Theory
In the course of their life spans
cells produce more waste than they can properly eliminate. This waste can
include various toxins which when accumulated to a certain level, can interfere
with normal cell function, ultimately killing the cell.
Evidence supporting this theory
is the presence of a waste product called lipofuscin leading to age pigment.
The cells most commonly found to contain lipofuscin are nerve and heart muscle
cells, both critical to life. Lipofuscin is formed by a complex reaction that
binds fat in the cells to proteins. This waste accumulates in the cells as
small granules and increases in size as a person ages. Because lipofuscin
builds up over time, it has been described as "the ashes of our dwindling
metabolic fires"
Our Recommendations:
Toxi-Cleanse (info)
Limited Number of Cell Divisions Theory
The number of cell divisions is
directly affected by the accumulations of the cell's waste products. The more
wastes we are accumulate over time the faster cells degenerate. Although an
ordinary chicken does not live anywhere near 20 years, French surgeon Dr.
Alexis Carrel was able to keep pieces of a chicken heart alive in a saline
solution which contained minerals in the same proportion as chicken blood
for 28 years. He believed that he had achieved this by disposing off the waste
products daily. Although Carrel's theory was eventually overturned by Dr.
Leonard Hayflick when it was found that fresh cells had been inadvertently
added to the cultures making the chicken cells seem "immortal," the experiment
helped explain why cells from older people with more waste divided fewer times
than cells from embryos which divided the most.
Our Recommendations:
Toxi-Cleanse (info)
Hayflick Limit Theory
In 1962 two cell biologists, Dr.
Hayflick and Dr. Moorehead, made one of the greatest contributions to the
history of cellular biology by demonstrating the senescence of cultured human
cells. Hayflick theorized that the aging process was controlled by a biological
clock contained within each living cell. The 1961 studies concluded that human
fibroblast cells (lung, skin, muscle, heart) have a limited life span. They
divided approximately 50 times over a period of years and then suddenly stopped.
Nutrition seemed to have an effect on the rate of cell division: overfed cells
made up to 50 divisions in a year, while underfed cells took up to three times
as long as normal cells to make divisions. Alterations and degenerations occurred
within some cells before they reached their growth limit. The most evident
changes took place in the cell organelles, membranes and genetic material.
This improper functioning of cells and loss of cells in organs and tissues
may be responsible for the effects of aging.
Our Recommendations:
PINEAL PLUS
Death Hormone Theory (DECO)
Unlike other cells brain cells or
neurons do not replicate. We are born with roughly 12 billion of them and
over a life time about 10 percent perish. Dr. Donner Denckle, an endocrinologist
formerly at Harvard University, was convinced that the "death hormone" or
DECO (decreasing oxygen consumption hormone) released by the pituitary glands
of rats their immune systems revitalized, the rate of cross-linking in cells
reduced and cardiovascular function was restored to the levels of youth. Denckle
speculated that as we age the pituitary begins to release DECO which inhibits
the ability of cells to use thyroxine, a hormone produced by the thyroid-governing
basal metabolism, the rate at which cells convert food to energy. The metabolic
rate bring on and accelerate the process of aging.
Thymic-Stimulating Theory
"The thymus is the master gland
of the immune systems," says Dr. Alan Goldstein, chairman of the biochemistry
department at George Washington University. The size of this gland reduces
from 200 to 250 grams at birth and then shrinks to around three grams by age
60. Scientists are investigating whether the disappearance of the thymus contributes
to the aging process by weakening the body's immune system.
Studies have shown that thymic factors
are helpful in restoring the immune systems of children born without them
as well as rejuvenating the poorly functioning immune systems of the elderly.
Thymic hormones may also play a role in stimulating and controlling the production
of neurotransmitters and brain and endocrine system hormones which means they
may be the pacemakers of aging itself, as well as key regulators responsible
for immunity.
Mitochondrial Theory
The free radical theory is supported
by directed experimental observations of Mitochondrial aging. Mitochondria
are the energy-producing organelles in the cells that are responsible for
producing ATP, our primary source of energy. They produce cell energy by a
process that leads to the formation of potentially damaging free radicals.
Mitochondria are also one of the easiest targets of free-radical injury because
they lack most of the defenses found in other parts of the cell. Evidence
points to various kinds of accumulated DNA damage over time to be a contributing
factor to disease, and new research in Mitochondrial repair could play an
important part in the fight against aging.
Errors and Repairs Theory
In 1963 Dr. Leslie Orgel of the
Salk Institute suggested that because the "machinery for making protein in
cells is so essential, an error in that machinery could be catastrophic."
The production of proteins and the reproduction of DNA sometimes is not carried
out with accuracy. The body's DNA is so vital that natural repair processes
kick in when an error is made. But the system is incapable of making perfect
repairs on these molecules every time, therefore the accumulation of these
flawed molecules can cause diseases and other age changes to occur. If DNA
repair processes did not exist, scientists estimate that enough damage would
accumulate in cells in one year to make them nonfunctional.
Redundant DNA Theory
Like the error-and-repairs theory
the redundant-DNA theory blames errors accumulating in genes for age changes.
But as these errors accumulate this theory also blames reserve genetic sequences
of identical DNA that take over until the system is worn out. Dr. Zhores Medvedev
of the National Institute of Medical Research in London proposed that different
species life spans may be a function of the degree of these repeated gene
sequences.
Cross-Linkage Theory
Developmental aging and cross-linking
were first proposed in 1942 by Johan Bjorksten. He applied this theory to
aging diseases such as sclerosis, a declining immune system and the most obvious
example of cross-linking, loss of elasticity in the skin. Collagen is one
of the most common proteins found in the skin, tendons, ligaments, bone and
cartilage. Collagen protein can be compared to the legs of a ladder with very
few rungs. Each protein is connected to its neighbors by other rungs forming
a cross-link. In young people there are few cross-links and the ladders are
free to move up and down. The collagen stays soft and pliable. With age however
the number of cross-links increases, causing the skin to shrink and become
less soft and pliable. It is thought that these cross-links increases, causing
the skin to shrink and become less soft and pliable. It is thought that these
cross-links begin to obstruct the passage of nutrients and waste between cells.
Cross-linking also appears to occur
when older immune systems are incapable of cleaning out excess glucose molecules
in the blood. These sugar molecules react with proteins causing cross-links
and the formation of destructive free radicals. Scientists once thought inflexibility
of the body with age was due to cross-linking of tendon, bone and muscle tissue.
However, people who lead a more active life style and follow a good diet seem
to inhibit or delay the cross-linking process.
The immune system is the most important
line of defense against foreign substances that enter the body. With age the
system's ability to produce necessary antibodies that fight disease declines,
as does its ability to distinguish between antibodies and proteins. In a sense
the immune system becomes self-destructive and reacts against itself. Examples
of autoimmune disease are lupus, scleroderma and adult-onset diabetes.
Caloric Restriction Theory
Calorie restriction or energy restriction
is a theory proposed by respected gerontologist, Dr. Roy Walford of the UCLA
Medical School. After years of animal experiments and research on longevity,
Dr. Walford has developed a high nutrient low-calorie diet demonstrating that
"under nutrition with malnutrition" can dramatically retard the functional,
if not the chronological aging process. An individual on this program would
lose weight gradually until a point of metabolic efficiency was reached for
maximum health and life span. Walford stresses the importance of not only
the high-low diet but also moderate vitamin and mineral supplements coupled
with regular exercise.
Gene Mutation Theory
In the 1940s scientists investigated
the role of mutations in aging. Mutations are changes that occur in the genes
which are fundamental to life. Evidence supporting this idea came from experiments
with radiation. It was observed that radiation not only increased animal's
gene mutation but it also accelerated their aging process as well. However
later studies showed the radiation-induced changes were only mimicking age
changes. This hypothesis further diminished in validity when experiments with
moderate amounts of radiation actually increased the life span of rats!
The Rate of Living Theory
German physiologist Max Rubner who
discovered the relationship among metabolic rate, body size and longevity
first introduced this theory in 1908. It simply states that we are each born
with a limited amount of energy. If we use this energy slowly then our rate
of aging is slowed. If the energy is consumed quickly aging is hastened. Other
rate-of-living theories focus on limiting factors such as amount of oxygen
inhaled or number of heartbeats spent.
Order to Disorder Theory
From the time of conception to sexual maturation,our bodies are undergoing a system of orderliness. We are as Dr. Leonard Hayflick
states, "Directing most of our energies to fulfilling a genetically determined
plan for the orderly production and arrangement of an enormous number and
variety of molecules." After sexual maturation however these same energies
start to diminish en efficiency. Disorder occurs in molecules in turn causing
other molecules to produce errors and so on. These chaotic changes in our
cells, tissues and organs is what causes aging. Disorderliness varies from
individual and this may be the reason why our tissues and organs deteriorate
at different rates.
The Telomerase Theory of Aging
A new theory of aging that holds
many promising possibilities for the field of anti-aging medicine is the telomerase
theory of aging. This theory was born from the surge of technological breakthroughs
in genetics and genetic engineering. First discovered by a group of scientists
at the Geron Corporation in Menlo Park, California, telomeres are sequences
of nucleic acids extending from the ends of chromosomes. Telomeres act to
maintain the integrity of our chromosomes. Every time our cells divide telomeres
are shortened, leading to cellular damage and cellular death associated with
aging.
Scientists discovered that the key
element in rebuilding our disappearing telomeres is the "immortalizing" enzyme
telomerase, an enzyme found only in germ cells and cancer cells. Telomerase
appears to repair and replace telomeres manipulating the "clocking" mechanism
that controls the life span of dividing cells. Future development of telomerase
inhibitor may be able to stop cancer cells from dividing and presumably may
convert them back into normal cells.
Despite the monumental progress
in aging research these has yet to be a unanimous vote on one specific theory
of aging, Most of these theories have been disputed by scientists over and
over again and many of them, as Dr. Hans Kugler editor of the Journal of Longevity
Research, said, "...are dying of old age." Age-related changes do not occur
uniformly in individuals; rather they are controlled jointly by genetic and
environmental factors which further heightens the difficulty of finding a
universal theory. What is universal is that we are all involved in a global-aging
phenomenon. Through theoretical gerontology and anti-aging medicine we may
eventually discover there is no limit to human life span.
Reprinted with permission
From "Stopping the Clock" by Dr. Ronald Klatz and Dr. Robert Goldman
(Keats Publishing, New Canaan, CT © 1997)
