Depending on the part of us that ages faster, we can focus on the areas most in pain, thus also dragging the rest of the organism and aim for greater longevity.
And you, say what aged type six? It is possible that we will have to get used to this bizarre question because each of us
ages differently, precisely according to different ageotypes or ageotypes in English. The neologism was coined some time ago by a geneticist from the Californian University of Stanford, Michael Snyder, who discovered that the aging process is less linear than what we believed in the past because the body does not age in the same way everywhere: some organs and systems age earlier and worse than others, who instead remain young for longer.
The four main types of aging
According to Snyder's research, the main directions along which we travel as the years pass would be four: there are those who have the
immune system that suffers the blows of time morewho more fragile in the liverwho feels age especially in renie who gets old first a metabolic level. These four Achilles' heels would identify the four main types of agingthe aging types in fact, and understand what ours could be a first step to aim for longevity
successful, with interventions that instead of being 360 degrees they could focus above all on keeping the parts destined to age young faster and worse. Furthermore, further investigations have already increased the possible aging types to at least 9 and Snyder himself recently stated that we have 78 organs, 78 aging types could exist. the main ones are likely to be around 50, to be reduced to 20 taking into account that many organs and systems are closely interconnected.
What affects aging
Getting old is inevitable, but the speed with which different organs and systems do it is not the same: among the elements that most impact the process are genetic factors, life habits (those who are active will have muscles and bones that stay young for longer) but also parameters such as cell replacementwhich when rapid helps keep tissues young, or oxidative stress, which is greater for the skin or lungs, directly in contact with external agents.
Genes, environment and lifestyle choices therefore influence the way in which cells, organs and tissues slowly lose their functionality and so, for example, someone who has spent a lifetime doing active work in the open air at the age of 70 can perhaps have a fit heart and lungs, but wrinkled skin. Taking into account which part of the body could be quicker in taking the path of decline take action to reduce the speed of the process in general, according to the theories of the American geneticist Michael Snyder.
What can change in the path of old age
The researcher, following some volunteers over time and measuring numerous parameters, identified the four main aging types and with these the pathologies most often involved in the path to old age.
Who has a aging metabolic typefor example, has more often altered blood sugar and cholesterol valuesstruggles to maintain weight and tends to develop over time with greater probability cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes;
who weak liver manifests some difficulty in cleansing the body of waste and more often enters old age with problems such as hepatic steatosis, the so-called
fat liver
;
L'aged renal type instead, it has greater difficulty maintaining an adequate water-salt balance and may suffer hypertension as well as a kidney failure;
finally, theaged immune type what he has less ability to manage inflammation and infections and may become ill with a greater probability of pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis.
Mix of types
As Snyder explained, everyone's profile is different and can be a mix between different aging types, in which one is predominant: a classic immune aging type with a young metabolic profile will be a thin elderly person without diabetes problems, but more at risk in the face of possible infections. Identify our older part could have practical consequences: for example, if you are prone to developing diabetes due to an aging metabolic type, managing weight and insulin resistance, the hormone necessary for glucose management could slow down aging, keeping you healthy for longer. What happened in some of Snyder's volunteers was: by changing habits, certain metabolic markers changed for the better, at least in the short term.
Genetics and epigenetics
Meanwhile, research to better characterize aging types continues, drawing on a myriad of data from projects such as the UK Biobank, which collects genetic, medical and lifestyle information from over 50,000 Britons, or the similar China National GeneBank: the results already show that further old types will need to be added, which take into account the specific fragility of organs and systems such as the lungs, muscles, heart and vessels. In short, the picture is becoming more complicated, not to mention that the investigations to identify the aging types are difficult and it is not enough to measure blood sugar, liver enzymes or white blood cells, a complex analysis is neededgenetic analysismetabolic and molecular.
Andrea Ungar, president of the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics, underlines that the future of the science of aging in'epigenetics, that is, in understanding how choices and the environment modify the expression of genes and therefore direct the different trajectories of organs and tissues over time. However, a reductionist approach, focusing on individual systems, could do the trick lose sight of the organism as a whole: some organs are more affected by the passage of time than others, but for healthy longevity it is also necessary to consider different parameters and, for example, not to forget the importance of sociality which, despite having no direct effects on organs or systems, keeps it young as much as as much as physical exercise, which matters even more than diet.
Movement
What we have at our disposal is most similar to the fountain of youth movement, because it has a positive impact on most aged types. And if identifying one's own weakness is not (yet) easy, there is however a way to understand one's own weaknesses, as the geriatrician specifies: When we start taking medicine for a chronic problem, it means that this is our Achilles' heel and from there begins the decline: if there is an imbalance in a system, other deficits are added in a cascade. Any pathology can trigger the acceleration of aging
.
Healthy aging in other words means getting sick late, but you can always do something to rejuvenate yourself. Successful aging is also the best one can have with respect to one's possibilities: a person with movement difficulties who no longer leaves the house can always be helped to do so again. Succeeding in this will be a success, an improvement in the quality of life, which is what really interests us as the years go by.
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January 21, 2024 (modified January 21, 2024 | 07:16)
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