Aging
Aging
By Johny Jagannath
Everybody knows about Aging and what it does to a living organism. But our understanding
of Aging is quite limited. There are a few theories though that try to explain the
phenomenon of Aging. But most theories are inconclusive and therefore there is no single
theory that is scientifically accepted at the moment.
But there is consensus among the scientists that Aging is probably caused by some
form of DNA damage that manifests itself as Aging. I therefore propose a mechanism
that I think explains why there is DNA damage in most organisms over a period time. I
say, ‘most’ because there are organisms that live forever, unless they are crushed to death
or their food disappears for reason. If you’re interested in knowing more, please read up
on, “Biological Immortality”. It’s a good read.
Back to my theory. I think of human beings as machines that consume fuel to do work.
To do work is nothing but staying alive. Ask yourself what does a machine (for e.g., a car)
need for it to do work? It needs a fuel-supply and oxygen. Without oxygen or fuel, the car
isn’t going anywhere.
Similarly, our body needs food and oxygen. In the absence of either of them, a person dies.
In a car, the fuel-and-oxygen delivery depends on the accelerator. In a human being, the
delivery of food-and-oxygen depends on the heart. When the heart pumps faster, more food
and oxygen is delivered to the body. Therefore the body is able to do more work.
But in a normal healthy human being, the heart slowly but surely loses its ability to pump
and slows down over time. And it’s a small percentage drop every year. This, in terms of a
car is essentially an accelerator that’s getting jammed every year making sure lesser and
lesser fuel reaches the engine and thus reducing the net work done by the car, every year.
This exact analogy works with human beings too. So, what happens to a body when food
and oxygen reach it slower and slower, every year? I think that it first results in the damage
of DNA that manifests itself as skin-wrinkling (aka Aging). That’s essentially my theory of
Aging.
Therefore, if my theory were true, one can stop Aging by simply making sure our heart gets
a helping hand, in that the rate at which food-and-oxygen reach our body is maintained
and never allowed to fall after 25 years of age. Why 25? Because, that’s when we are at the
peak of our health. After 25, it’s a steady downfall with regard to health.
Therefore, making sure that “circulation stats” of the 25th year of a person are maintained
(for the rest of the life of that person) will result in that person looking like she or he were
25 for the rest of her or his life. That’s my theory of Aging.
By Johny Jagannath
Everybody knows about Aging and what it does to a living organism. But our understanding
of Aging is quite limited. There are a few theories though that try to explain the
phenomenon of Aging. But most theories are inconclusive and therefore there is no single
theory that is scientifically accepted at the moment.
But there is consensus among the scientists that Aging is probably caused by some
form of DNA damage that manifests itself as Aging. I therefore propose a mechanism
that I think explains why there is DNA damage in most organisms over a period time. I
say, ‘most’ because there are organisms that live forever, unless they are crushed to death
or their food disappears for reason. If you’re interested in knowing more, please read up
on, “Biological Immortality”. It’s a good read.
Back to my theory. I think of human beings as machines that consume fuel to do work.
To do work is nothing but staying alive. Ask yourself what does a machine (for e.g., a car)
need for it to do work? It needs a fuel-supply and oxygen. Without oxygen or fuel, the car
isn’t going anywhere.
Similarly, our body needs food and oxygen. In the absence of either of them, a person dies.
In a car, the fuel-and-oxygen delivery depends on the accelerator. In a human being, the
delivery of food-and-oxygen depends on the heart. When the heart pumps faster, more food
and oxygen is delivered to the body. Therefore the body is able to do more work.
But in a normal healthy human being, the heart slowly but surely loses its ability to pump
and slows down over time. And it’s a small percentage drop every year. This, in terms of a
car is essentially an accelerator that’s getting jammed every year making sure lesser and
lesser fuel reaches the engine and thus reducing the net work done by the car, every year.
This exact analogy works with human beings too. So, what happens to a body when food
and oxygen reach it slower and slower, every year? I think that it first results in the damage
of DNA that manifests itself as skin-wrinkling (aka Aging). That’s essentially my theory of
Aging.
Therefore, if my theory were true, one can stop Aging by simply making sure our heart gets
a helping hand, in that the rate at which food-and-oxygen reach our body is maintained
and never allowed to fall after 25 years of age. Why 25? Because, that’s when we are at the
peak of our health. After 25, it’s a steady downfall with regard to health.
Therefore, making sure that “circulation stats” of the 25th year of a person are maintained
(for the rest of the life of that person) will result in that person looking like she or he were
25 for the rest of her or his life. That’s my theory of Aging.
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