Avoiding Getting Old

[Irishman]

This week’s column had a callback to a 2009 column on how to avoid getting old.

While I remember the column, this time through sparks two comments.

First, Cecil said:

Sleep right. A six-year study of 1.1 million adults found that those sleeping seven hours a night had the lowest chance of dying. With less than six or more than eight hours per night, your mortality risk starts climbing. Too little sleep I can see being a problem, but what’s so bad about too much? So far, nobody knows.

The problem with sleeping too long appears to be a correlation/causation error, specifically reversing the causative arrow. Sleep times longer than 7 hours correlate with people who have other health problems. Notably, sleep apnea causes poor sleep, and an overall tired feeling and desire for more sleep. It also can cause weight gain, and even heart attacks.

Second comment: in 2011, a book was published that examined this very question in detail, looking at ongoing current science exploring the causes of aging and what, if anything, can be done. The book is Long For This World: The Strange Science of Immortality, by Jonathan Weiner. Much of the book centers on discussions with a one-man cheerleader and driving force for immortality research, Aubrey de Grey. But it does look to actual scientists and doctors researching different aspects of the question and what, if any, results they achieve on meager budgets and little support.

The 2 cent summary: there are 7 basic causes of aging that all amount to the metabolic processes of our bodies over time becoming clogged up by the residue of those processes, and thereby making the systems our bodies use to renew and cleanse ourselves break down. Finding ways to clear out the junk allows the existing processes to return to function, and thus restore youth.

Aubrey de Grey is an idealist with a strong sense of determination set out on a mission, so that has to be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, there are signs of progress that could ultimately lead to ways to rejuvenate the body and thereby prolong life significantly. Immortality, perhaps not, but conceivably longevity doubling to indefinitely.

The wikipedia entry on Immortality briefly discusses de Grey’s ideas here.

Here is a wikipedia entry on Aubrey de Grey.

De Grey’s research focuses on whether regenerative medicine can thwart the aging process.[6] He works on the development of what he calls “Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence” (SENS), a collection of proposed techniques to rejuvenate the human body and stop aging. To this end, he has identified seven types of molecular and cellular damage caused by essential metabolic processes. SENS is a proposed panel of therapies designed to repair this damage.[7]

The seven causes of aging

[ol]
[li]mutations in chromosomes[/li][li]mutations in mitochondria[/li][li]junk inside cells from the breakdown of proteins and such that clogs up the works[/li][li]junk outside cells from proteins and such[/li][li]cells that die off faster than they are replaced[/li][li]cells that stop dividing but don’t die off and start acting wonky[/li][li]extracellular protein crosslinking overworking and making tissues lose elasticity[/li][/ol]

[C_K_Dexter_Haven]

Interesting, Irishman, thanks. I’ll pass this along to see if Cecil is interested in an update (or, perhaps, an addendum footnote to the old column.)

[Senegoid]

One common line of discussion on the aging process focuses on the gradual loss or degeneration of telomeres, the aglets that cap off the chromosomes.

Is this included in “mutations in chromosomes” that De Grey talks about? Or is this considered separate? Does de Grey, or anyone, have anything to say about research towards preserving or repairing the telomeres?

Who here wants to live forever?

[qazwart]

There’s a easy way to avoid getting old: Die young.

I sometimes point this option out to my kids: Just keep up what you’re doing, and you’ll be able to avoid getting old!

Of course, there are a lot of benefits of getting old. For example, when you were college, remember you went to a really big party, and you woke up the next day all achy, with a strange taste in your mouth, and no idea where you are?

When you get old, it’s like you’ve partied every night!

[Irishman]

@Senegoid

Is this included in “mutations in chromosomes” that De Grey talks about? Or is this considered separate? Does de Grey, or anyone, have anything to say about research towards preserving or repairing the telomeres?

Telomeres aren’t directly listed, they seem to be incorporated under aspects of cells dying off and cell senescence, i.e. items 5 and 6. This wikipedia page discusses telomeres. There’s an enzyme, telomerase, that creates new telomeres. It is normally inactive in somatic cells (i.e. normal non-germ cells), but there are techniques being explored for reactivating telomerase.

@qazwart

There’s a easy way to avoid getting old: Die young.

That’s the trivial solution. The challenge is living without getting old.

[qazwart]

I have a deep suspicion that death is programmed into our DNA. We die because our genes tell us to die.

Not everything seems to get old. Lobsters are fine – never losing strength or the ability to reproduce until the very day they die which is usually accomplished with some butter and garlic. Naked mole rats live a very long time too, and are packed full of genes that help them fight off cancer and other aging issues. Why not all living creatures?

There shouldn’t be any reason why we’re programmed to die. Our body simply stops repairing itself efficiently after about the age of 30. We stop growing, our strength wanes, we get all sorts of diseases, we basically grow old.

I believe death is evolutionarily programmed into our beings. Maybe that way, we don’t compete against our progeny. Imagine an animal that lives forever. What is the price of reproduction? You can alway have a new crop of kiddies next year. No need to protect them. No need to waste your strength and resources making sure they survive. You compete against your own children, and then something happens that does kill you.

Now, imagine an animal programmed to die after a few years. That animal must reproduce and now. The clock is ticking. Many animals insure their genes continue by producing so many children, they die from exhaustion afterwards. Others stick around and will risk their lives to make sure their children survive and have the skills to live on their own. If that animal fails to have any progeny, its genes are not passed on.

Animals live long enough to reproduce and to help their children survive. Humans live a long time compared to our closest evolutionary cousins, the gorillas and chimpanzees. Both seem to live around 40 to 50 years, but the humans lifespan is another 20 years beyond that. One clue is that our children take an entire decade longer to mature, and even after that are still dependent upon our help.

I can understand why we don’t like death. It’s awful. Not just dying, but the lead into it. People get weak, they go in and out of hospitals. Their brains slowly become senile, and the person you once knew becomes lost. I’ve see people fight death for decades. Trying to remain independent as long as possible. They refuse to use a walker even though they’re constantly falling and tripping. They refuse to go into an independent living center until they can no longer take care of themselves. It’s an awful process.

But, I doubt we’ll ever find an easy way to overcome death and extend our lifetimes. We can live better, exercise more, but that will only add a few years to our life at the most. In the end, we’ll be over taken by disease and still die.