The ageing process remains one of the great mysteries of medical science

Main Category: Arthritis / Rheumatology
Article Date: 29 May 2004 - 9:00 PDT

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We all know what ageing does to us - how it makes us frail and more likely to fall ill. But what actually causes ageing and can we do anything to slow its advance?

Ageing is caused by a build up of damage in our body - we can control some aspects of the ageing process. The lifestyle choices we make are important.

We can eat foods that burden our bodies with things like saturated fats, or we can eat foods that are high in natural anti-oxidants that can aid the body's defences.

We can exercise so that our natural systems for renewal and repair keep our muscles, lungs and blood circulatory system in good shape. We can stretch our minds to reinforce the networks of connection between brain cells. This makes them less vulnerable to the losses that occur because of ageing.

The longest we can currently hope to live to is about 120 years. Only one woman, Madame Jeanne Calment, from Arles in France, had reliable proof that she had lived longer. She was born on February 21, 1875 and died August 4, 1997 at the age of 122. She took up fencing at 85, still rode a bicycle at 100, and released a rap CD at 121. She claimed she was "never bored." By the end she was blind, nearly deaf and in a wheelchair, but still mentally alert and spirited.

The average life span is still about 75-80 for women and 70-75 for men. However, with current developments in healthcare and public health, more young people today might expect to live longer.

The goal of most research on ageing is to improve the quality of our later years. Already, we are living longer than ever before. But we urgently need to find ways to slow or prevent conditions like Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis and arthritis that make life a misery for so many older people.

One of the odd things about ageing is that although we know it will catch up with us eventually, we do not as a rule know exactly what lies in store. Some of us may keep our mental faculties largely intact until we are over 100. Others will suffer from dementia. Some of us will still be able to get about - others with conditions like arthritis will find it more difficult.

Of course, how ageing will affect us is partly down to luck - where the damage strikes first and hardest. Some of it is down to genetics and some of it will be affected by our lifestyle choices.

Norwich Union UK

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