Some time ago, I read that the cells of the small intestine do not show any effects of aging, i.e, the small intestines of a 101 year old are as good as those of a 5 year old. Can anyone confirm or refute that little factoid for me? Also, do some cells generally age faster than others in an average human being?
I am not sure but it sounds like you think that cells are created and then they just do their job until the person dies. That is not usually the case. Most cells in the body are continually replaced. DNA in the cells “wears out” over a number of replications and this is one of the causes of aging.
One major exception is the neurons in the brain. Once they are created, they generally live for the life of the person. This must be qualified to be accurate however. Some neurons die in a person’s lifetime and there is some evidence that some new ones can be created after brain development.
Of course not, silly. I’m inquiring more about aging on a system-wide level as it connects to the age-related DNA degredation in cells. Just about every bodily function we have progressively fails as we get older except supposedly the small intestine, which I’m trying to confirm or refute. Although now that you mention it, I WOULD like to know if the intestinal cells show the same genetic degradation as the rest of the cells.