Have you ever wondered what causes us to age? Has anyone ever died of ‘old age’? In case you are wondering, the answer is no, there are only four things that can kill us: accident, suicide, murder and disease. Ok, you say, but we can’t go on getting older and older without ever dying, right? Well, that’s true only because the older you get the more susceptible to disease and prone to accident, murder and suicide you can become. So why do we grow up then get old? Why do all living things develop, maintain for awhile, then un-develop?
Although the four reasons for dying mentioned above are absolute and immutable, there is a hidden fifth and seed cause to all of the above and that is the aging process. It is the natural function of birth, youth, maturity and old age within each lifespan. It is the DNA program each individual living thing must follow throughout his or her life. DNA determines appearance, strengths and weaknesses and which and how much of the good or bad influences from ancestors take precedence. It determines how those characteristics will emerge and be affected by a developmental timeline that is also programmed by your DNA.
Since DNA needs to replicate every cell in your body several times in your lifetime, it is can be affected by how you treat it. Oxides and free radicals can chip away at your DNA so that when it’s time for cellular replication the next generation comes out a little different from the last. Each time your cells are replaced the aberration increases until the nature of the new cell no longer possesses enough similarity to its ancestors that it becomes deformed, dysfunctional and then diseased.
The organism, human or otherwise, depends on the quality of reproduction of each of the specialized cells in its system to exist in a healthy state. When cells are diseased their DNA may be damaged so that mitosis produces damaged offspring. The result is organ disease or disease of the nervous, circulatory, lymphatic or endocrine systems. Unmitigated, the local disease may damage or kill the organism.
There is another factor affecting your DNA and longevity. That is the loss of genetic information during replication because of deterioration to the ends of the DNA strand. The ends of the DNA molecule are protected with an enzyme coating called a telomere that protects the double helix from fraying like the plastic coating on a shoelace. Because a little wears off each time the DNA is replicated, it serves as a kind of terminating device to the organism. When sufficiently worn down, the telomere sends a signal to the cell to senesce or stop functioning, and thus die. This is a natural protection against the duplication of aberrant cells replicated from damaged DNA, essentially a natural cancer preventative. At 100 years old a human DNA telomere is only about 5% of original size at birth.
The production of telomerase, the substance that maintains stable telomere length, also decreases with age or ill health and can affect the lifespan. Scientists are working hard to increase telomerase production and subsequently decrease aging for biological entities.
As scientists work on altering the mechanisms for aging, we as individuals can lend a helping hand by minimizing the oxides, free radicals and heavy metals that enter our bodies during our lifetimes. As I stated previously, what we subject our DNA to affects its integrity and ability to reproduce itself identically. As humans beings living in the twenty first century we are the first of our race to experience the true possibility of significant life extension due to scientific advances. To reap the benefits of this science we need to keep our bodies healthy so that we don’t get sick and die before this new age of agelessness begins.
A high protein, vegan diet that is also low in sugar, supplemented with anti-oxidant and vitamin therapy can get you to the Promised Land. Just think of it, in ten years time scientists develop a way to add another ten years to your lifetime. Imagine that each decade produces a net gain of ten more years to your normal lifespan. At that rate, you remain virtually ageless indefinitely. Don’t be foolish with your health, there is a greater chance of this happening than you dying and going to heaven or hell. Nobody has ever proved that. At least in our own hands, there is still a fighting chance.
Now, can you think of a New Year’s Resolution?
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