How Can We Live Longer Essay, Research Paper
Contents
Introduction:
I. Why do We Age
A. Theories of Aging
II. What is Longevity
A. Life Span and Life Expectancy
III. What determines Longevity
III. Why Don?t Most Americans Live Past the Average Life
Expectancy
IV. Leading Causes Of Death (table)
V. What Do We Do to Live Longer
Conclusion:
Introduction
What is the fear of most humans? The fear is aging and death. In
this paper you will find out a lot about aging. You will learn what
longevity is, what determines it, the average length of life and how you
can exceed it. You will find it amazing that doing simple things every day
will help you to feel better an live longer.
Why Do We Age?
From the time we are born we start to die. This is life. No one
knows how long they are going to live, but we can try to do all that we can
to live longer. Aging is not controlled by any one. Aging is a genetic
process. We get so old until our bodies breakdown. What causes the
breakdown, the decline of energy, The inability of the body to function.
There is nothing to fully explain why we age, but their are some theories
the will help explain what happens.
Theories of Aging
The Genetic Theory states that cells contain ?aging? genes that
tells the exact number of times the cell can duplicate itself, for humans that
about 110 to 120 years. Another theory suggest the cells DNA somehow
becomes defective after a certain point and synthesizes defective protein.
The defect disables normal cell functioning, causing the cell to deteriorate-
fall apart.
The Immune System Malfunctions is a theory of aging involving the
immune system. It says that the body begin to miscalculate in
synthesizing proteins and make proteins that the immune system cannot
recognize. The immune system then would attack them as it would any
foreign substance, destroying the cells and impairing the body functions.
Some other Theories are much more complicated. the programmed
theories are:
Programmed Senescence. Aging is the result of the sequential switching
on and off of certain genes, with senescence being defined as time when
age- associated deficits are manifested.
Endoctrine Theory. Biological clocks act through hormones to control the
pace of aging.
Immunological Theory. A programmed decline in immune system
functions leads to an increased disadvantage to infectious disease and as a
result is aging and death.
Error Theories include:
Wear and Tear. Cells and tissue have vital part that wear out.
Rate of Living. The greater an organism?s rate of oxygen basic metabolism,
the shorter the life span.
Cross linking. An accumulation of crossed linked proteins damage cells
and tissues, slowing down bodily process.
Free Radicals. Accumulated damage caused by oxygen radicals causes
cells and eventually organs to stop functioning.
Error Catastrophe. Damage to mechanisms that synthesize proteins
results in faulty protein which accumulate to a level that causes
catastrophic damage to cells and organs.
Somatic Mutation. Genetic occur and accumulate with increasing age,
causing cells to fall apart and stop working.
Having read the list of theories you could gain an underrating of
what happens through the different processes . Like Dr. Hayfick say,
?Instead of asking why do we age? we should be asking why do we live
as long as we do.?
What is Longevity?
Longevity is a term , taken from infoplease encyclopedia, denoting
the length or duration of the life of an animal or plant, often used to
indicate an unusually long life.
Life Span and Life Expectancy
How long can we live? Gerontologists always mentions two kinds
of life spans, Maximum Life Span and Average Life Span. Most scientist
declare that our maximum life span is 120 years. The average life span of a
human is the average age that is reached by members of the population.
Life Expectancy is the number of years a person or individual can expect to
live, this is based upon average life spans.
Average life span and life expectancy has grown dramatically in
this century. In 1900 the average life span was 47years now 1990 it
increased to 75 years. This advancement is mainly because of medical
improvements and sanitation improvements.
On the other hand maximum human life span seem to be a problem.
There is no evidence that this has changed for thousands of years despite
the fabled fountains of youth and biblical tales of people living to be 500
years. Life expectancy has moved from legend to laboratory.
Gerontologist explore the genes , cells, and organs envolving aging. they
are tring to uncover more secrets of longevity.
What Determines Longevity?
There are certain factors that determine how long we can live.
Sometimes these factors can have a fairly large impact on us.
The first is genectics. We cannot change the genectic hand we are
dealtin life. Some of us are inherently predisposed to various degenerative
diseases and cancers. Others are given a very long life span, if they don?t
mess it up. Those with a bad genectic background can change their
outcome through appropriate vigilance and behaviors. ?Collated Damge?
should be avoided. Meaning if you have lung cancer, refrain from
smoking.
The second would have to do with oxidation damage. The chemical
process of oxidation is involved in many of the changes of aging, including
heart disease, the promotions of many cancers, and Alzhimer?s disease.
Oxidation is increased with exposure to the sun, radiation (includ
x-rays, ultra violent light, and cosmic radiation) and various chemicals.
The process is slowed down by the body?s anti-oxidant system which
relies on a number of different vitamins, minerals, and other compounds
found in foods.
The third is Trama. Physical and chemical damage can shorten our
life span, by a little bit at a time or in whole chunks. Physical trama
includes sun damage and that caused by improper exercise or being
overweight. Chemical trama can be from pollution with tobacco or excess
alcohol, many physical and chemical tramas are those we put upon
ourselves.
Last but not least our emotional status plays an important role.
People who are happy tend to live longer. Studies have shown that happy
people have less heart disease and fewer cancers. happily married people
live longer than single people. Do what you can to make your self happy.
Develop hobbies, make new friends, get a dog.
Why Don?t Most Humans Live Past the Average Life Expectancy?
Why do you think people don?t live to become 100 or 120? Most
people don?t live that long because of what they do. Most people don?t get
to see age 75. It?s what you do and don?t do that makes you live longer.
most people say that happy people live longer. Is this true? Think about
it, what are happy people doing? They are mostly smiling and they are
occupied doing something.
Some causes of death before life expectancy are stress, anxiety, heart
attacks, cancer, physical injurices, and physical and substance abuse.
All of these I mentioned are bad health Conditions. Stress is bad on
the body especially for older people. Stress can trigger heart attacks and
strokes. All kinds of cancer can be developed in different ways and can
harm you just as bad as anything else would. To much sunlight and
raidiation is bad for the skin. Smoking hurt the body physicaly and
mentally.
Elderly people should abstain from strenuous activities or work that
includes heavy lifting and excessive pain. The reason for this being is that
elderly people take longer to heal when injured. Sometime physical
injuries could lead to death.
To be on the safe side you should avoid the leading causes of death.
Heart disease, cancers, tobacco, strokes, and other cerebrovascular
diseases, alcohol, Alzhimer?s disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, and diabetes. Some of these diseases we have no control over.
Some humans are born with these diseases. Just don?t put yourself in an
early grave, help your self fight these diseases and live a long properous
life.
What Do We Do to Live Longer?
For the minute we all been waiting for, what do we do to live
longer? To live longer or to prolong our life span we should balance our
activities with the proper amount of rest. Exercising on a daily basis may
actually add years to your life span. For elderly people, exercisin may
increase your muscular strenght and speed.
Exercising reduces the risk of heart disease and strokes. It lowers
the risk of cancer. It lowers the risk of cancer. It builds bone density, so
fractures would not easily happen. when exercising you can maintain a
normal body wieght. It alsoreduces the risk of infections by incresing the
circulationof the immune cells. Exercising also increases memory.
Happiness is one of the best things for your mental and physical
state. People are attracted to someone who has a sense of humor. You also
get a workout while laughing. You know when you laugh until you
stomach hurts, you are working your abdominal muscles. If possible try to
stay happy.
Maintain a proper diet. This does not mean no salt, a little piece of
meat and a lot of vegatables. This means don?t eat a lot of one thing but a
little of everything. Limit yourself to how much you are eating.
Remember , try to maintain a normal body weight.
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