So, how to understand the meaning of aging? Simply put, aging is the accumulation of human body tortured by years. Aging is a group degeneration process of body cells with the increase of age, and it is a process of gradually accumulating cells and being destroyed. Human aging begins in adulthood, especially among middle-aged and elderly people. Therefore, delaying aging must start from youth, and anti-aging is by no means short-term and can be achieved overnight. What is the relationship between human aging and disease? The aging of the human body comes quietly with the growth of age, which is inevitable for everyone. The arrival of diseases is often sudden, in a sense, with some contingency, which can be controlled by people. In addition, aging and diseases promote each other and are inseparable. For example, no sick person will be full of youthful vitality, and people who age prematurely will often have senile diseases, such as arteriosclerosis, osteoporosis and stroke. In other words, aging and disease are interrelated. Therefore, if you want to delay aging, you must first set your life activities on the four cornerstones of health-balanced nutrition, moderate exercise, peace of mind, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol. First of all, ensure good health, which is the basis of anti-aging. In this regard, this book will recommend diet health care, exercise health care, mental health care, sexual health care and disease prevention to middle-aged and elderly friends. The purpose of this chapter is to let middle-aged and old friends learn how to be more youthful and energetic on the basis of health, and to "add icing on the cake" to our lives.
Human aging is a comprehensive aging process from the inside out, which can be observed mainly from the following aspects.
(1) shape change
With the growth of age, bones and muscles age, resulting in no longer tall and flexible posture, no longer light and vigorous gait. Instead, it gradually becomes short, hunched, staggered and bloated. Gingival atrophy, root exposure, and finally tooth loss; Skin aging, leading to skin no longer smooth and delicate, gradually relaxed, wrinkles, pigmentation and age spots; Hair gradually becomes sparse, less shiny and white. Finally, an old man's figure and face shape were formed.
(2) Changes of circulatory system and internal organs
The aging of the circulatory system is manifested by hardening of blood vessels, increasing blood viscosity, and the blood circulation is not as unimpeded as it was when it was young, which leads to the continuous decrease of blood perfusion in all tissues, systems and organs of the whole body, thus accelerating the aging of all organs and tissues of the whole body, such as mental retardation caused by brain aging, decreased cardiac function caused by heart aging, increased nocturia caused by renal insufficiency, dyspepsia caused by digestive system dysfunction, and decreased vital capacity caused by respiratory system aging.
(3) the decline of endocrine function
With the increase of age, the gonads of men and women gradually shrink, the sexual activity ability decreases and the fertility is lost. The decline of thyroid function leads to the slow metabolism of human body, resulting in the so-called "firepower" reduction of the elderly, fear of cold, poor appetite, inactivity and so on.
(4) Decreased immune function.
With the increase of age, the thymus, which is responsible for immune function, begins to shrink, and the resistance of human body to foreign bacteria and viruses, the resolution and lethality of tumor cells in the body are greatly reduced, so infectious diseases and malignant tumors are prone to occur.
For the sake of human health and longevity, scientists have long been committed to the study of human aging. They found many related factors leading to aging, but it was not until recent decades that they found the answer to the most fundamental principle leading to aging. It can be said that scientists have uncovered the mystery of human aging and found the culprit.
Through a lot of research and observation, scientists have found that human aging is caused by the constant attack of chemical ions called "oxygen free radicals" on human cells. With the increase of age, this kind of attack will continue to increase and accumulate. When this attack accumulates to the critical level of cell physiology, it will produce aging diseases, such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, decreased immune function, cancer, brain and nerve dysfunction, and eventually lead to death. The final conclusion is that the accumulation of oxygen free radicals in human cells is the main cause of human aging and senile diseases.
What about "oxygen free radicals"? To put it simply, it is the process that the human body must constantly absorb oxygen from the outside in order to survive. Inhaled oxygen passes through the pulmonary circulation, enters the blood, and is sent to every cell in the body through the blood circulation. Oxygen entering the cell undergoes a "burning" reaction in a structure called "gland" in the cell, releasing energy for the cell to use. In the process of oxygen combustion, a kind of "terrorist" called "oxygen free radical" is released at the same time. Their chemical properties are extremely unstable, and they must "plunder" an electron from other places for their own use. Therefore, this kind of oxygen free radical "invades" everywhere, oxidizes "attacks" other components of the cell, and causes serious damage to the cell structure. When the human body is young, the cells of the human body have their own biological enzyme system, and self-made antioxidants can resist the destruction of oxygen free radicals. After middle-aged and elderly people, this ability to resist oxygen free radicals gradually decreases, which makes the destruction of oxygen free radicals more serious, leading to aging and senile diseases.
In recent years, scientists have made unremitting efforts in anti-aging and achieved exciting results. According to the research on the causes of aging, they used antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin C and trace element zinc, which have no side effects on human body, and achieved the effect of delaying aging and treating senile diseases.