Why Age?

What is Ageing?

August 14, 2007 – 8:10 am | by admin

“Every man desires to live long;
But no man would be old”

Jonathon Swift 1667-1745

Ageing is more than the latest grey hairs and wrinkles that confront us in the mirror in the morning. Each of us has a unique pattern of change that the accumulating years show on our faces and bodies.

Ironically for Jonathon Swift, the brilliant satirist and author of Gulliver’s Travels, his decay was mental. The sharpest wit of his age suffered from Meniere’s disease, characterised by vertigo and deafness, and predicted his own descent into dementia when observing, with poet Edward Young, a tree that was dying back from its crown.

“I shall be like that tree, I shall die from the top”, he remarked to his friend.

He died at 78, fulfilling both the desire and dread of his proverb. For the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century he had a long life but suffered, from the age of 50 onwards, the effects of what we now recognize as Alzheimer’s disease .

If I could utilize the secret power I most covet - time travel - I would travel back to Swift’s side, not just to share the remarks that amused and infuriated his society but to oversee his exercise and dietary regime (“Not the mutton and ale, Jonathon, take the vegetable soup if you please, my good sir”) then return to 2007 and review my efforts.

Good for the heart, good for the brain?

It might turn out that his number was up regardless. However new research into Alzheimer’s hints that lifestyle choices may reduce the risk of contracting this tragic accompaniment to old age.

The disorientation, confusion and forgetfulness of Alzheimer’s is well established but the shrinking of the brain and the widening gaps between brain matter the disease exhibits to modern medicine is poorly understood.

It could be that the failure of the vascular network that feeds the brain is the culprit.

As arteries in the brain harden with age and constrict blood flow, the body compensates by pumping harder. Blood pressure goes up and over time these blood vessels rupture. The nerve cells in the brain that depend on nourishment from this failing blood supply deteriorate and die, leading to the familiar symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

My instincts as a trainer tell me that what is good for the heart must also be good for the brain. A healthy diet low in saturated fats and regular exercise may turn out to be the panacea for Alzheimer’s that it is for so many other afflictions like diabetes and stroke.

The mechanism of ageing

Physical, environmental and emotional stress provoke adaptation and repair in the body but unfortunately it’s an imperfect process that becomes more imperfect over time.

Skin becomes ever more fragile and lined, age spots multiply and the features thicken, sometimes making us unrecognizable in our dotage when compared with our youth.

Hair greys as melanocytes, the cells that produce the pigment melanin, lose their potency.
Hair thins or disappears completely as loss outpaces replacement.

Muscles lose mass and tone.

Bones lose mass and weaken, porosity increases. Spongy bones like the vertebrae eventually collapse and height decreases.

Eye lenses lose elasticity and vision declines.

Immunity weakens as the production of lymphocytes, cells that fight infection, lowers.

Arteries harden, heart and lungs become less powerful, and digestion becomes less efficient. Nutrients are less well absorbed and constipation occurs.

Can Ageing be slowed?

Definitely.

Review the somewhat depressing list of declining functions above and imagine what effect exercise and a healthy diet might have on some of them.

Muscles and bones - Here is where exercise and diet not only slow ageing but actually reverse it. It’s normal for the body to lose around two per cent of muscle mass per decade after peak maturation. Pump iron, grow some muscle and more dense bones, and not only have you discovered the fountain of youth, but you will also reduce risk of injury from falls and other misfortune..

Immunity - A healthy diet and regular exercise increase resistance to illness and improve rates of healing from less frequent bouts of cold and flu.

Congenital issues aside, show me a person who keeps their body fit and is careful about what they eat and I’ll show you a person whose heart, lungs and arteries are in good shape. That person will also have few digestion problems.

Famous centenarians (people 100 years young)

Saint Anthony (251-356)
Irving Berlin, composer (1888-1989)
Freya Stark, explorer (1893-1993)
George Burns, entertainer (1896-1996)
Leni Riefenstahl, filmmaker (1902-1903)
Bob Hope, comedian (1903-2003)

Find a passion - you’ll live longer.

Tip of the week: Manage anger!
Anger is an emotion from our evolutionary past that causes the adrenal glands to pump out the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Anger that helps us blow off steam is fine but the sort of low level anger we harbour for longer keeps these hormones elevated and can cause damage to tissues and organs.