The population is aging inexorably and, by 2050, nearly 400 million people will be aged 80 and over. Enough to salute the progress of current medicine, while asking new questions about the management of geriatric diseases. But at what age do we really start to age?
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First of all, it is about understanding what aging is. If its definition is still subject to debate, scientists agree on the fact that there are two types:
Physiological aging, first of all, refers to the body and its clinical examination: “It is generally considered that the functioning of all physiological systems is optimal between 20 and 30 years of age, researchers say in a 2020 article in the journal Medicine/Science. Indeed, from the age of 30, a slow and progressive alteration in the functioning of each organ appears. The walls of the heart thicken, the muscle loses mobility and the arteries stiffen. The respiratory muscles lose strength and theelasticityelasticity pulmonary decreases.
We are not all equal when it comes to aging!
Very bleak prospects, but which do not concern everyone at the same level! It’s proven: when it comes to aging, we are not all equal. To achieve such results, researchers followed a panel of more than 1,000 people over a period of 12 years, from their 26th to their 38th birthday. They isolated 18 biological markers of aging which they analyzed at three stages: 26 years, 32 years and 38 years. They also measured the participants’ biological age based on the length of their telomeres: the ends of chromosomes that shorten with age.
Their results, published in 2015 in the journal PNAS, are clear: 38-year-olds with more advanced markers of aging had a biological age greater than their birth age, their cognitive performance was reduced, they appeared older than average and said they felt weakened! Conversely, people with less marked markers of aging were biologically younger, their cognitive performance was above average, they looked younger and reported feeling good.
Slow down aging by taking care of your lifestyle
The good news is that it is indeed possible to slow down aging. Without robbing cosmetics stores, you must first look at your healthy lifestyle. Better : “Active aging must now be considered as an art of living”, recommend the researchers in the 2020 study. To do this, you must focus on sport, maintain your brain by promoting social connections and intellectual efforts. Aging is also closely linked to diet: if you want to slow it down, opt for a varied diet, and eliminate sugarsugar ! Finally, for the most stylish people who want to keep baby skin as long as possible, bet on a good total protection to apply before putting on the nosenose out.
