Treating Aging in the Modern World

Understanding Aging: The Inevitable Process

We all undergo the process of aging. The only certainty in life is our own mortality as we cannot avoid that. How well you age is just as crucial as how long you live. Visible signs of aging include muscle loss and facial collagen depletion of muscle leading to wrinkles, gray hair, and frail health. Aging impacts all organ systems on a physiological level including decrease in heart function (cardiac output), decrease in bone density, decrease in brain volume (1), decrease in lung vital capacity, decrease in biological resilience (ability to recover) and more. Aging also has cellular changes that we will explore.

Exploring Inflammaging: The Role of Chronic Inflammation

A relatively recent term, “Inflammaging” characterizes the surge of pro-inflammatory markers as a result of aging. This chronic low grade inflammation significantly contributes to the development of age-related diseases (2). Various factors, including chronic stress, metabolic dysfunction, persistent bacterial infections (3), lyme disease, tick borne infections, mold toxicity, and inadequate elimination of our cellular debris (4) fuel inflammaging. Additionally, alterations in the composition of the gut microbiota, the vast community of bacteria in our intestines, play a pivotal role (5). This intricate gut microbiome is the main gate between the external world and our internal world. The microbiome has a fundamental role in inflammaging as it cross talks with various parts including our liver, brain, adipose tissue, central nervous system (gut brain axis), hypothalamus (circadian rhythm) (2).

The Hallmarks of Aging: Unraveling the Complexity

In 2013, the concept of the “Hallmarks of Aging” was introduced, delineating nine hallmarks of aging being telomere attrition, epigenetic alteration, loss of proteostasis, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, genomic instability, deregulated nutrient sensing, and altered intracellular communication (6). In 2023, a decade later, an expanded versio of this framework emerged, adding 3 hallmarks (7). The three hallmarks added were chronic inflammation (inflamm-aging), dysbiosis (gut), and disabled macro-autophagy (self debris). These three additions underscore the evolving nature of medical understanding and emphasize the dynamic interplay between aging and various physiological processes.

Empowering Optimal Aging: Taking Control

While aging itself is inevitable, our ability to age well is within our control. It is my passion to assist you in navigating this journey towards optimal aging.

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