Aging is cellular aging.
What can we do against it?
The journey from EXTRA-cellular medicine to INTRA-cellular medicine
To understand the process of aging, we need to delve into the subcellular or intracellular realm.Our life is a highly complex, yet ordered sequence of chemical reactions. The human cells are a wonder of nature and comparable to megacities and their infrastructure: energy production, waste disposal, sewerage, shopping facilities, etc.
Every second in our life, the enzyme glucokinase captures thousands of glucose molecules in each of our trillion cells, combines them with phosphorus atoms, thus marking the onset of energy production. A significant portion of the energy obtained is used in ribosomes, complexes of RNA and proteins.
In each cell, there are approximately 75,000 enzymes, such as catalase.
An adult is made up of 100 trillion or 100,000,000,000,000 individual cells. If you were to lay the cells, which are on average only 1/40 millimeter in size, end to end, they would stretch for two and a half million kilometers, or about 60 times around the Earth.
Between 50 and 70 billion cells die in our body every day and are replaced. That's more than ten times the current world population!
Between 10 and 50 million body cells are broken down and replaced by new cells every second. For almost every organ or tissue, there are stem cells that constantly provide new supplies and form, for example, new skin, blood, or muscle cells.
Cell renewal is a continuous process
Renewal occurs unnoticed, as not all cells exchange at the same time or even at the same rate. Lifestyle and diseases can change and delay cell renewal. Over the years, the process slows down, and more cells die off than new ones grow.Take bones, for example: Every year, osteoclasts break down eight to ten percent of old bone tissue, and osteoblasts rebuild it. Thus, every ten years, we have a new skeleton. At least until the hormone decline in midlife significantly slows down the rebuilding, and osteoporosis begins.
Why do people age?
Aging is a biological process that accompanies humans from birth to death. Medical advancements and significant improvements in hygiene conditions have contributed to nearly doubling the human lifespan in the past 120 years. However, the number and severity of age-related diseases have also increased.Fundamentally, every biological organism ages. But why is that, and what purpose does aging serve? So far, experts can explain a lot. That's why we talk about aging as a disease that can, therefore, be cured. They state that aging is due to both internal and external factors.
The 10 most important reasons for aging
01 Genomic instability due to environmental damage
02 Wear of the protective chromosome ends, the telomeres
03 Changes in the epigenome, which determines which genes are switched on or off
04 Loss of healthy protein maintenance (proteostasis)
05 Dysregulation of nutrient sensing
06 Mitochondrial dysfunction
07 Accumulation of old altered cells that cause inflammation in healthy cells
08 Exhaustion of our stem cells
09 Altered cell communication and production of inflammatory molecules
10 Lifestyle changes
02 Wear of the protective chromosome ends, the telomeres
03 Changes in the epigenome, which determines which genes are switched on or off
04 Loss of healthy protein maintenance (proteostasis)
05 Dysregulation of nutrient sensing
06 Mitochondrial dysfunction
07 Accumulation of old altered cells that cause inflammation in healthy cells
08 Exhaustion of our stem cells
09 Altered cell communication and production of inflammatory molecules
10 Lifestyle changes
Our goal:
the rejuvenation of the cell
by freeing it from metabolic waste.
Longevity. What is that?
What is understood by Longevity and can the aging process be influenced?