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bottleneckblooz
Guest
What is it about the aging process that slows down the bodies ability to heal itself?
st8grad
New member
Can I answer the question with part of the question? No? Ok, well, the question actually answers itself. Without much of a scientific answer, it's just part of the life cycle of anything. Everything in life wears out and breaks. Ok, here we go.
Genes only are programmed to split a certain number of times. When they reach that limit it hinders our ability to heal.
Wear and tear. Kind of like a car.
In the universe there is a continual movement. Your body goes from disorder (forming stages), to order (formed and growing), to disorder (aging and death).
Toxic waste theory. That our bodies build up waste to a point of no return.
Our endocrine and neurological systems wear out and leave us susceptible to disease.
There is no good scientific evidence as to why we age. If we knew, we could halt the process and live forever. I hope your question wasn't rhetorical.
Genes only are programmed to split a certain number of times. When they reach that limit it hinders our ability to heal.
Wear and tear. Kind of like a car.
In the universe there is a continual movement. Your body goes from disorder (forming stages), to order (formed and growing), to disorder (aging and death).
Toxic waste theory. That our bodies build up waste to a point of no return.
Our endocrine and neurological systems wear out and leave us susceptible to disease.
There is no good scientific evidence as to why we age. If we knew, we could halt the process and live forever. I hope your question wasn't rhetorical.
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bottleneckblooz
Guest
st8grad said:
This theory would indicate that weight training, which constantly forces the body in a state of repair, actually shortens our lifespan.
st8grad
New member
bottleneckblooz said:
Except that when you force the body to do something it becomes more efficient at it. So being in a state of repair from working out actually makes the body better at repairing itself from working out.
But there isn't a clear cut answer, I am pretty sure of that.
bottleneckblooz said:
There could be some truth in this.
Excessive exercise causes oxidation and free-radical damage to all cells. If this was coupled with poor nutrition the results could easily be a shortened lifespan.
Most weight trainers overstress the body's resources to repair and further exacerbate the downward spiral.
In reality, it's the skinny people who do moderate exercise and eat moderately all of their lives who live the longest.
Mavafanculo
New member
slower metabolism, lower levels of growth hormone and testosterone, less ability to withstand stress b4 cortisol kicks up, degraded ability to process nutrition, long-term effect of oxidation.
most if not all of these can be "fixed" or prevented
take a look at some of the BB's in their 60's who continue to workout and "supplement" their hormones. they probably heal at the level of a natty 30 or 35 y.o
most if not all of these can be "fixed" or prevented
take a look at some of the BB's in their 60's who continue to workout and "supplement" their hormones. they probably heal at the level of a natty 30 or 35 y.o
simple answer....mitochondria in our cells turns to shit and stops producing ATP, thus cell development and reproduction doesnt happen, so we die of something eventually
there is a lot of evidence that shows a life of low stress, low calorie diet promotes longevity. when our immune system is exposed to caloric deficit it enters survival mode and thus stronger...too many calories and too much stress (mental/physical) strains our immune system inhibiting its ability to repair....
so yes, we bodybuilders or the like are actually working to live shorter than the skinny guy
there is a lot of evidence that shows a life of low stress, low calorie diet promotes longevity. when our immune system is exposed to caloric deficit it enters survival mode and thus stronger...too many calories and too much stress (mental/physical) strains our immune system inhibiting its ability to repair....
so yes, we bodybuilders or the like are actually working to live shorter than the skinny guy
Mavafanculo
New member
tropo said:
well the oxidative damage yes, slowed down is more accurate, but the drop in hormone levels can be fixed by HRT - never as good as mother nature, but a close 2nd
MsBeverlyHills
New member
this is one depressing thread 
Less testosterone and growth hormone mainly.
Here is something to think about: Progeria is a genetic condition where one ages prematurely. Since it's genetic, this may indicate there is a time clock gene. Researches are trying to find that gene to uncover the fountain of youth.
I'm in developmental biology this semester...
Here is something to think about: Progeria is a genetic condition where one ages prematurely. Since it's genetic, this may indicate there is a time clock gene. Researches are trying to find that gene to uncover the fountain of youth.
I'm in developmental biology this semester...
Some progerias like Bloom's syndrome are caused by a deficiency in a gene coding for a helicase, or a protein that helps unwind DNA for transcription and replication.
One type of time clock gene is known as a telemorase, which adds 'junk' DNA on to the end of chromosomes to help deal with the loss of information resulting from DNA replication. Cells grown in culture can divide a limited number of times, but introducing a telemorase immortalizes them. Most cancers have a mutation in genes controlling telemorase expression.
So telemorase activation could allow a cell to bypass its programmed 'lifespan' but would also greatly increase its risk of becoming cancerous.
One type of time clock gene is known as a telemorase, which adds 'junk' DNA on to the end of chromosomes to help deal with the loss of information resulting from DNA replication. Cells grown in culture can divide a limited number of times, but introducing a telemorase immortalizes them. Most cancers have a mutation in genes controlling telemorase expression.
So telemorase activation could allow a cell to bypass its programmed 'lifespan' but would also greatly increase its risk of becoming cancerous.
LucSulla
New member
^This
And a note about skinny people and eating moderately, and so on. You can exacerbate a genetic tendency to develop a disease by lifestyle, but you can't live so clean as to prolong your life beyond your genetic potential. Simply put, you lifestyle can maximize whatever your lifespan was going to be, but it won't extend it beyond a certain point. A rather in depth study of centenarians (people who lived past 100) revealed only one common characteristic. Some of them ate well their whole lives, some ate like shit. Some had a high level of physical activity, some didn't. The only thing they had in common, every single one of the thousand or so in the study (which is a pretty significant sample), was the age of their mothers when they were born. All of them had mothers who were younger than 25 when they were born, which seems to add more weight to the theory that a woman's eggs deteriorate over time. The fact that older siblings tend to be healthier than than younger siblings when lifestyle is controlled for tends to also back this theory.
I guess my point is that while it is stupid to do things that could shorten your life, it is equally stupid to become so obsessed with longevity that you don't actually live life along the way.
And a note about skinny people and eating moderately, and so on. You can exacerbate a genetic tendency to develop a disease by lifestyle, but you can't live so clean as to prolong your life beyond your genetic potential. Simply put, you lifestyle can maximize whatever your lifespan was going to be, but it won't extend it beyond a certain point. A rather in depth study of centenarians (people who lived past 100) revealed only one common characteristic. Some of them ate well their whole lives, some ate like shit. Some had a high level of physical activity, some didn't. The only thing they had in common, every single one of the thousand or so in the study (which is a pretty significant sample), was the age of their mothers when they were born. All of them had mothers who were younger than 25 when they were born, which seems to add more weight to the theory that a woman's eggs deteriorate over time. The fact that older siblings tend to be healthier than than younger siblings when lifestyle is controlled for tends to also back this theory.
I guess my point is that while it is stupid to do things that could shorten your life, it is equally stupid to become so obsessed with longevity that you don't actually live life along the way.
trauck1506
New member
I read some study a few months ago and it said that if you only ate enough to stay alive you could double your lifespan. They did this in worms and mice and supposedly were working on a pill that would basically give the same effects without starving yourself.
I've read a number of books, most prominent among them: "The singularity is coming: when humans transcend biology" that say if you can live into the 2030's or 2040's your lifespan can be extended unbelievably long. People always die of something: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, aids, and so on. If many of the large threats can be elminated, we will have a lot more time to live tinker with the smaller ones. If we can reprogram one's own cells with non deficient genes and youthful telomeres and target them to organs these youthful cells will become the majority. Oh and then there's the possibility of nanrobots that can build anything from the ground up, including a much improved heart, which will probably hit some time in the second half of this century. EXCITING STUFF!!
I will also say that HRT may decrease many of the effects associated with aging but is by no means healthy, unless you consider cancer healthy. By the time your are in your 60's and 70's, your DNA has accumulated lots of damage from replication, oxidative and environmental damage, and the last thing you want is one of these non moving tumors to start growing more quickly and possibly pile up one key mutation to metastasize and spread.
LucSulla: I will only say that I don't think we know what our innate natural lifespan is since we don't know enough to optimize all the variables. And as for artificial lifespan well the sky is the limit.
I will also say that HRT may decrease many of the effects associated with aging but is by no means healthy, unless you consider cancer healthy. By the time your are in your 60's and 70's, your DNA has accumulated lots of damage from replication, oxidative and environmental damage, and the last thing you want is one of these non moving tumors to start growing more quickly and possibly pile up one key mutation to metastasize and spread.
LucSulla: I will only say that I don't think we know what our innate natural lifespan is since we don't know enough to optimize all the variables. And as for artificial lifespan well the sky is the limit.
oso0960
New member
I've always thought that it was true that working out will shorten our lifespan. here's some of my reasons...though I've never really completely researched my points, they just make sense to me.
1st: working out raises our body temperature. I know it's been proven that if humans maintain a lower body temperature, they will live longer. Maybe because all processes slow therefore slowing everything down...including aging.
2nd: (this point is iffy) we know that all types of stress can kill us. Working out is a physical stress and I believe that even though you rebound by resting for a couple of weeks, it still has this certain accumulation that won't go away. For instance, say you overtrain for 30 years and then stop completely. Yeah you will eventually rebound, but do you think that person will live longer than someone who didn't feel like complete shit most of their life?
trauck1506
New member
I don't really think that working out will necessarily make you die faster and even if it did does it really matter? I think the over eating that everyone that works out should do is what mostly does it. I would rather workout and be in better shape than someone my age that can't move very well, but may live 10 years longer. My grandpa's brother Jim is 71 and up until about 10 years ago he was doing triathlons and riding bikes cross country and too this day he is in way better shape than me. I think it is 90% genetic and probably 10% what the average person does.
