Aging: The #1 Killer

There appears to be a small renaissance taking place within the forum lately - To much amazement, actual serious discussion has been taking place. I know, I didn't believe it at first either. Try to stay with me, here, though.

Aging is the king of disease - Everyone is born with it, and the survival rate is 0%. Though some alterations in lifestyle may increase or decrease your life span, there is no escaping the aging process... At least at this point in human existence. Scientists are, of course, looking at ways to arrest aging. Telomeres, repeating DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes, appear to be the most viable solution for the first antiaging therapy to come about. Some of the telomere is lost each time a cell divides, and when it becomes too short, the cell dies. There is an enzyme called telomerase that can elongate chromosomes after each division, theoretically making a cell immortal. The problem is that telomerase is only used in certain cells (fetal tissues, tumer cells, and some others I can't remember). In normal body cells, the stuff is virtually undetectable. Overcoming these problems and getting to the point of using the enzyme to slow aging in a whole human body will of course not be seen in our lifetimes, if it ever does come about.

So, what be your thoughts on altering the aging process? Is this a good thing? Or is it bad, because, after all, who wants to live for such a long time anyway? Of course, when looking at the situation, one must ask why nature put a finite life span on cells in the first place. Anyone up for discussion?

Many factors are involved in the aging process, and all these factors impact the Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Nervous, Musculoskeletal, and the Immune Systems. Each system reacts to it's own physiological makeup. Therefore, how we treat these systems, and the environment in which we live in directly will determine the response to the aging process.

The musculoskeletal system, comprised of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, connective tissues, and the fascia are the glue that binds the body together. These connective tissues lose water and start to dry-up, as we grow older, and notice the progressive changes of aging.

The respiratory system can severely be impacted by environmental influences such as exposure to smoke, toxic chemicals and air pollutants. These influences cause a progressive deterioration of the functioning structures of the lungs and bronchial tubes.

The cardiovascular system is lowered due to the increased resistance of the blood vessels in the musculature. This reduction in the blood flow decreases the oxygen uptake, making the body less able to deliver the necessary oxygen to the body tissues, because of the decreased lung capacity. As we get older and become more sedentary in our habits, the decline increases.

The nervous system acts as a communications coordinator between the various systems and organs of the body. A glitch in the system could cause it to grow weaker or lead to more glitches and/or brakedowns. This happens because of all the other problems from the Respiratory, Cardiovascular and the Musculoskeletal system.

So with 100% I agree with you TINM, but really we can slow it down if we could get rid of some problems. If so we would go from there to see what else needs to be fixed or done. For right now death is at the end of the road for all of us, and there isn't a thing you can do about it, Wahahaha...Em, Em, sorry.

Si, senor. That was beautiful, but that's also why I said:

Though some alterations in lifestyle may increase or decrease your life span, there is no escaping the aging process...

All you mentioned could be categorized under a change in lifestyle. Smoking, not smoking, watching what you eat, exercising, etc, etc. Such things will affect how long you live, for better or worst. But I'm talking long-term here.

(First post in a year)

I would have to say that altering the aging process is a very bad thing. One only has to look at the pros and cons to see this.

Longer life - Pro ( only pro to some people )
Over population - Con ( probably the leader of all the cons )
Human polution - Con
Social Security - Con ( already gone for my generation )
Support for the elders ( or lack there of ) - Con

I'm sure there are more, but you get the point. In every species ( other than the human species ) there is a strict "Law of the land". Populations are controlled by the food chain. The only "food chain" that exists for the humans is the thousands listed under us.
Mutations.
Mutations happen all the time. they are part of evolution. we only call them mutations when they dont work, or benifit the "mutant-ee". we only say something has evolved when that mutation works, or benifits the "mutant-ee" better than past generations. mutations are also population controllers. when you have a bad mutation it is a limiting factor in survival. the mutation will die out and not be passed on. every species of all walks of life works in this way, except humans.
We have medicines to cure diseases that otherwise would be limiting factors. We have medicines that help people with incurable diseases have kids, why? to pass it on to future generations?
illnesses and diseases are ment to be limiting factors, to keep population down, and resources up. But, humans are doing there absolute best to keep the ratio reversed. Pretty much the only limiting factor for humans is war. but even war doesnt make a dent. We come back from war and have sh** loads of sex( baby boomers ). Human population is growing at an exponential rate.
I'm not neccissarely saying that i agree with the "law of the land" , because, trust me, if a family member or loved one was sick, your damn right im going to do everything humanly possible to keep them with me. all i'm saying is that according nature, thats not how it should be.

Well according to this guy, Aubrey de Grey (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4003063.stm), we could live into our thousands. :wtf:

But if this were actually possible, would we even want to?

If such technological advacement happened all of a sudden, the chances of being able to get hold of this 'medicine' will be unlikely. Can you imagine the companies who would love to sell this so much desired product? I know that I would never be able to afford it...

Oops, my apologies for cross posting. I didn't notice that there was already a thread (http://www.matrixmania.com/showthread.php?t=11928) on this subject...