What is Aging?
Beyond wrinkles and decline in energy, aging is the accumulation of damage that our bodies undergo over a time period. Aging is a normal and natural process and in itself is not a bad thing. However, it is the degenerative changes which occur in the body as a result of aging, which lead to feelings of loss of youthfulness, development of chronic diseases and decline in health. Together, these changes can be referred to as "Degenerative Aging".
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What is Degenerative Aging or Inflammaging?
Day to day wear and tear related processes occur in everyone regardless of their chronological age. These processes result in degenerative changes and are often balanced to some degree by body's innate ability to heal and regenerate. Additional toxic burden causes inflammation. When degenerative and inflammatory processes exceed body's regenerative ability, "Degenerative aging" or "inflammaging" sets in. See "how full is your bucket" for more details on how this inflammation develops over time.
Some of these mechanisms which lead to degenerative aging are displayed below.
Top Do's and Don'ts to prevent changes associated with aging :
While it may be very difficult to avoid changes associated with day to day wear and tear of human body, excessive inflammation and toxic burden which results in degenerative aging and inflammaging can be avoided. Below are the most important Do's and Don'ts to consider.
Advances in medicine have made it possible for us to measure and manage the aging process. Advanced testing and proactive management of the age-related decline in health and function are not in widespread use in the traditional healthcare system yet but they are available and we can use these tools to improve our health spans.
Below is a graphic representation of what age management can look like.
Difference between typical and improved health/lifespan through personalized age management
