Man grows old with a head

"Ageless organisms harmful because it takes the place of young" - this idea 127 years ago expressed the German zoologist and evolutionist August Weismann in an article published in the Oxford Clarendon Press. In fact, this man first told the world that aging - the result of natural selection and the gradual dying programmed all living organisms

. With scientists argued, agreed and tried to catch the mistakes and inconsistencies in the scientific basis of the hypothesis. But surely all his supporters and opponents, combined fear and trembling before the inevitable. It really is nothing more terrible than death, and nothing more disgusting it slow approach in the form of old age, which causes the wrinkles on our faces, as if to show the world how long we eked out its existence.




And I am also very afraid. Especially it becomes terrible when I see glimpses in his mane of white hair, - immediately I start to panic thinking, "What can we do? How to be? How not to fall victim to natural selection? »

Soothe except that promising research and development scientists involved in the fight against aging (Aubrey de Grey's not in the bill, so forgive me, his fans). Of course, I do not fully believe that dozhivёsh until the moment when, thanks to 3D-bioprintingu internal organs can be changed as a spare part, or the study of the naked mole rat will still create an elixir of youth - but a little calm down

. Some would say that I'm just a fool - worried about the age of 27 years. But not all so simple. Recent studies have shown that a person begins to age at about this age. And start the process of decline from the head - it triggered neurodegenerative processes

. In 2009, a group of scientists led by Professor Timothy Solthausa, director of cognitive aging lab at the University of Virginia, studied the work of cognitive functions on a sample of 2,000 men and women aged 18 to 60 years. It turned out that the first, light signs of Alzheimer's disease, such as difficulty in remembering recently memorized facts, decreased concentration and the ability to quickly and easily schedule things begin to manifest itself in 27-30 years. Of course, you can not diagnose Alzheimer's only on these indicators, however they can be a signal that a person is predisposed to the disease.

However, old age and mental degradation can save prevention - as is the case with any other disease, according to some gerontologists, biologists, geneticists and neuroscientists

. Since the late 1980s, the West became popular concept of "successful aging", which every year, or even month, supported by all the new scientific publications, which tells that remain in sound mind and memory as possible, maintaining the plasticity of the brain and neurons networks using:

learning foreign languages,
solving mathematical problems,
development of new computer programs and gadgets,
learning to play musical instruments and chess,
driving a car.

In general, there is a whole list is constantly replenished by scientists, from which you can choose on their liking. And I, knowing that already passed their Rubicon, also chose a hobby - will develop new gadgets, applications, software, and all sorts of useful things that appear on the web. So imagine how will advanced grandmother, I will walk with their grandchildren for a walk on virtual worlds and give advice on how to build relationships with their loved ones and androids geminoidami.

Dreaming is a very nice, although it is clear that prevention is not a panacea for senile dementia, because the risk of its occurrence is related not only to the degree of brain natrenirovannosti, but also with a genetic predisposition, impaired cellular metabolism ...

However, if you do not get hysterical, and to try to defer the onset of old age today known methods, it is possible to live fully and very interesting - before come Alzheimer

. Author: Alena Lesnyak