What makes us age?

[Daisydog]

What make us age and why, in particular, do we age so much slower than, say, dogs? My dog, who is 9, has gray hair all over her face.

[yukoncpa]

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What make us age and why, in particular, do we age so much slower than, say, dogs? My dog, who is 9, has gray hair all over her face.



[/ QUOTE ] Dog years, sadly, are shorter then human years. Too bad the trend isn't reversed.

[Prodigy54321]

here is my response to a similar question in this thread

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in The Selfish Gene, Dawkins mentions that old age is simply the accumulation of harful tendencies (diseases, etc) that only present themselves late in life..

the reason that these are sucessful in the population, whereas the same tendencies are not successful in the population if they present themselves earlier in life, is that people have had more time to procreate..so the harmful tendencies are not weeded out by natural selection to the extent that they would be if they presented themselves earlier in life..

Dawkins even speculated that we could theoretically make humans live much longer than we currently do by not allowing people to have children until a certain age.

I found it interesting


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[luckyme]

[ QUOTE ]
here is my response to a similar question in this thread

[ QUOTE ]
in The Selfish Gene, Dawkins mentions that old age is simply the accumulation of harful tendencies (diseases, etc) that only present themselves late in life..

the reason that these are sucessful in the population, whereas the same tendencies are not successful in the population if they present themselves earlier in life, is that people have had more time to procreate..so the harmful tendencies are not weeded out by natural selection to the extent that they would be if they presented themselves earlier in life..

Dawkins even speculated that we could theoretically make humans live much longer than we currently do by not allowing people to have children until a certain age.

I found it interesting


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Wouldn't there also be the same reason cucumbers don't have brains? ( other than the ones that post on here).
Taking a Gouldian genepool-wide view of evolution, there needs to be a turnover rate of the genetic vehicles ( us) to ensure a decent response time to environmental changes.
Think how easy microorganisms would be to deal with if they bred at human rates. The resource cost to the gene pool of keeping the same-ol' production line around longer than is wise for evolutionary purposes would put us in the slow-generating microbe league ... too easily eliminated.

Within that framework, Dawkins comments hold.

luckyme

[onesandzeros]

We age because we believe we age. By believing that we age we get tricked into excusing responsibility for our actions and thoughts, and thereby buying into a self induced slow suicide programmed by the "man" from step one on.

Define die? What do we know about energy, science proves after all we are 100% energy. Can energy be created or destroyed? No. It can only change form.....

We are a reflection of combined experiences and thoughts.

Science proves that every cell in our body is regenerated every 3 years. Since our brain is the program running the body it can be programmed through brainwashing and propaganda to self destruct...Hell I smoke cigs and I know they are TOXIC. Reprogramming our brains is of course endlessly possible. It is of course our job to program ourselves to do what we choose to do. Not let others tell us what to believe, or what is or isn't.

Everything that is, is, whatever we think it is?

[vhawk01]

LOL.

[MidGe]

Bah, I say blame the designer, or,... there is no reason at all, it simply is as it is!

[carlo]

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What make us age and why, in particular, do we age so much slower than, say, dogs? My dog, who is 9, has gray hair all over her face.


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I can display the aging process by concepts in the medical field. There is talk of the catabolic and anabolic process in man and this is related to the hormonal system. Examples of catabolic proactives are adrenaline, cortisol, or any substance especially hormonal which is believed to cause the breakdown of human tissue. Conversly the anabolic hormones are the ever involved HGH, insulin, testosterone ar any substance especially hormonal which is involved with the building up of the human tissue.

You will see a more predominance of the anabolic phase or growth phase of human life from childhood to youth until approximately the age of 27. At that time the catabolic forces gain predominance and we have the beginning of aging.

It seems that the human body replaces its tissues totally every 7 years so that what you saw over 7 years ago is no longer there.

[IrOnLaW]

what about HGH, for those in with medical knowledge, how does that help with aging.... I know it's physical performance and weightloss benefits, along with permanent organ growth, but what about aging???

[carlo]

[ QUOTE ]
what about HGH, for those in with medical knowledge, how does that help with aging.... I know it's physical performance and weightloss benefits, along with permanent organ growth, but what about aging???

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There's a polarity in the human being of constructive and destructive processes which are present at all ages. So, one could say that one is aging at age 2 but the constructive processes are predominate and in this we have growth etc. To understand that there is a balance between the two forces is a given even though at age 53 the destructive forces predominate.

As to HGH and its effects on aging I don't know whether a clear answer can be given as studies are usually not done on live persons over extended periods of time. It is apparent that HGH presents with increase in muscle mass,strength,etc. as noted by athletes throughout the world. But taking that there is a balance in the anabolic/catabolic processes is human beings one can definitely say that there is a dark side to administration of the substances. Could one take a proper(is there such) dose of HGH over a lifetime and diminish the aging process? The answer is probably yes.

The question carries furthur in that does one die because one ages? The aging process is not the same as the death process but one can say that one dies when the body can no longer support the needs of the spirit/soul in man. One could say that you've built your house and that's that. Another aspect is that death is involved in nutrition in which a man can no longer gain strength from the earth and dies.

A story of cortisol(steroids) might clarify some of the issue. Back in the 30's or 40's of the 20th century(I really am not exact on the dates) the medical profession came to the "wonder drug" cortisol. They observed it anti inflammatory effects and were rightly impressed. There is a diagnosis of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis which speaks for itself in which young children of course suffered arthritic pain and had medical needs. The standard for treatment became cortisol on a daily basis whcich meant over long periods of time. You may not know what happened but can guess. these began to have hip pains and x-rays of their hips revealed total erosions of the "ball" portion of the hip joint(ball and socket). Instead of a nice round ball there was a flat surface. The children were crippled for life. Cortisol is one of the "catabolic"or destructive hormones.

HGH can certainly accentuate the anabolic aspect for periods of time but the dark side will certainly appear. There is no free lunch.

Lecture over. Sorry.