Process Essay: The History Of Aging

Humans undergo several stages during their lifetime including growth, development, reproduction and senescence. Senescence is defined as the deteriorative biological changes that organisms experience as they age eventually leading to death. These changes include low metabolism, a weak immune system, memory loss, poor vision and loss of hearing. Senescence begins in humans during their post-reproductive years. However, gerontology research has shown that individuals who reproduce late have longer life spans compared to individuals who reproduce early. Nonetheless, it does not indicate that senescence is inevitable. All organisms experience senescence,

As we grow older, reflecting on one’s life becomes a natural part of the aging process. This paper is a life review taken from my grandfather, Mr. D.H., who was born in the 1940’s, he is currently 75 years old. He has a birthday coming up soon in November where he will be 76 years old. He currently lives by himself in an apartment in a retirement community designed for older able adults, where this interview took place. Overall for his age, his health is stable only suffering from Type I diabetes and a thyroid condition (didn’t specify), that he was diagnosed with in his late 50s that didn’t allow him to work anymore. Despite his current disorders, he’s still able to do for himself, and continues to smoke cigarettes plus indulge in a beer or two a day.

Aging is a phenomena we are all familiar with, a trait characteristic of all humankind, in fact, of all living organisms. What are the effects of aging, especially those which go beyond the biological aspects and effect the social aspects of changing roles, seniority, and treatment of the aged? What was the original human condition before high-tech medical interventions redefined death and dying, before the industrial age changed the nature of the nuclear and extended family? Going back still farther, what can the behavior of chimpanzees tell us about the origins of our responses to the aging of those around us?

Aging is a part of life not everyone wants to accept. There are many theories on aging and I would like to focus on the Stochastic Theory. The Stochastic Theory is “based on random events that cause cellular damage that accumulates as the organism ages” (Grossman, S. & Lange, J., 2018, p. 55). Within this theory there are four categories but I am only going to focus on two: Wear and tear theory along with Connective tissue/cross-link theory.

In order to better understand aging-associated diseases, it is first necessary to define what aging is. Aging is a complex, multifactorial process of harmful mutations in cells and tissues that are accumulated over time and result in an increased risk of disease and, eventually, death (Tosato, Zamboni, Ferrini, & Cesari, 2007, p. 401). Contrary to the belief that aging can be cured through medical advances, it is scientifically accepted that, while human life expectancy has increased, the human life span has remained largely unchanged for the past 100,000 years (Tosato et al., p. 401). Therefore, future developments in aging research ought to focus on addressing treatment and prevention of major aging-associated diseases that will

Intrinsic skin aging results from the normal chronological processes that affects all organs during aging and is influenced by numerous factors that change during aging such as decreases in hormonal production [42]. It is well established that decreases in hormonal production results in a loss of moisture in aging skin, with concomitant reduction in elasticity, epidermal atrophy, increased collagen degradation and wrinkling of the skin [43 44]. Adult skin progressively thins at a rate that accelerates with age and all components of skin appear to decrease in thickness with age [45, 46]. The changes that occur to different layers of the skin are depicted in Figure 3.

Aging is a biological process by gradual deterioration of the physiological functions and metabolic processes. (Hilaire Bakala et al 2012) Exposure to stressful situations during early life can have intense health consequences and is impaired throughout life. However some cases of this impact do not become evident until much later in life or decades later, when the individuals begin to show signs of accelerated ageing. (Katherine A. et al 2014). While understanding the relationship between early life and longevity has important implications in the field of aging, we have still little information about the mechanisms involved in the prolonged times scales of stress-aging. A stress can stimulate various pathways leading to increased production of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) it is well known that are highly reactive and capable of damaged many biological macro molecules such as DNA, RNA, Proteins, and Lipids (Govinda Rao 1989; Tian et al 1998). The accumulation of oxidative damaged molecules may cause genetic mutation and cellular senescence (Tian et al 1998). Several data indicates that mitochondria are mostly affected organelles during aging.

Telomeres shorten after each cell division, until senescence marks the point, where they cease to divide. Once cells divide at a reduced rate and then no longer divide at all, the effects of ageing become visible. It should be noted that this is not the inevitable fate of every biological organism. As we reach the heights of sentience, our evolution would be reflected in our extended lifespan. From a scientific viewpoint, the human race has the capacity to expand their lifespan from 150 to 300 years in less than a century. Therefore, we have far from lived up to our full biological

First I will talk about the physical changes in early adulthood. Developmentalists look at adult physical functioning and begin to ask questions about loss or decline of function. There are two types of aging primary aging and social aging. Primary aging is age related physical changes that have biological basis. Social aging is age related changes due to environmental influences, poor health, habits or disease.

The way God created us as humans is a life cycle where eventually late adulthood comes with the biology of aging. Santrock (2013) describes five different theories of why humans age (p. 541). The evolutionary theory explains that aging is more of a natural selection process, and diseases occur in the elderly because they “would have been eliminated” if they were in younger people (Santrock, 2013, p.541). Cellular clock theory describes how cells get tired of dividing after they have been reproducing for so long (Santrock, 2013, p.541). Free-radical theory explains when “cells metabolize energy the by-products include unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals” (Santrock, 2013, p.541). The unstable oxygen molecules can damage DNA and other structures inside the cell (Santrock, 2013, p.541). Mitochondrial theory describes how aging occurs because of the mitochondria essentially wearing out and becoming less efficient (Santrock, 2013, p.542). Mitochondria are the cell’s “power house,” and they convert energy inside the cell (Bailey, 2008). The last theory, hormonal stress theory, illustrates the effects of stress, especially long term stress, on aging (Santrock, 2013, p.542). Stress released hormones which depress the immune system making people more susceptible to disease (Santrock, 2013, p.542). There are many theories about why human’s age, and all of them may be true, but regardless aging is inevitable and so are its effects.

Telomeres are directly correlated to the aging of a human body. Although some people might think that shorter telomere lengths are detrimental, the natural shortening of these telomeres are essential to healthy and normal aging. It is natural for cells to divide through mitosis, but each time cells are split telomeres are lost through the process. This is why the telomere maintenance system was evolved to protect the ends of chromosomes (Prescott, Kraft, & Chasman, 2011). Every time a cell is divided, its telomeres are weakened, and stress can accelerate this weakening, and biologically age the person. As a

Aging is the process of becoming older, as we age, multiple mutations occur that concern all the processes of aging well as it compromising a number of different genes. There are many theories of biological aging, such as the Cellular Aging Theory, Immunological Theory, and the Wear and Tear Theory. The Cellular Aging theory describes the process of aging in which cells slow their number of replication, thus giving each species a “biological clock that determines its maximum life span” and how quickly one 's health will deteriorate(Hooyman, 42). After a certain number of years, each cell which follows an apparent biological clock starts to replicate itself less, thus the specific individual or species slowly deteriorates. This theory gives

Causes of aging are very uncertain. Besides, there are several factors which predispose an individual to premature aging. Current theories suggest that this process occurs to due to cellular damage such as DNA oxidation by free radicals causing

Aging causes structural and functional changes in brain. As aging population has become a burden, it is essential to study aging brain aiming to maintain cognitive integrity. Previous studies indicated that young blood improves the function of stem cells in organs including brain by heterochronic parabiosis model. However, data is lacking whether regeneration or beyond occurs by this model. The authors Villeda et al., hypothesized that aged animal exposed to young blood can counteract aging process and rejuvenate brain cognitive function. Therefore, the authors conducted research to examine within molecular, structural, functional, and cognitive aspects.

Humanity has come a long way as we evolve and adapt to the changing environment. Through the years, we have managed to overcome several limitations, which in the past were nothing more than dreams. We succeeded in landing on the moon and communicating over long distance, yet there are still some boundaries we have yet to cross despite our best effort. Aging is an inevitable process of nature. While we cannot stop the ticking clock in our body, we have made it possible for aging to be delayed and relieved to a great extent through advance technology and modern governance. High-tech equipments and medications are available for the treatments of more illnesses as our understanding of medicine improves and governments nowadays are doing