Causes of human aging

[LightningSpec]

What are the causes of human aging?
Do we know all the causes of human aging?

[bobze]

What are the causes of human aging?

Aging theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ageing)


Do we know all the causes of human aging?

Not likely.

[Ryan_m_b]

Here's some more info on senescence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senescence#Theories_of_aging

Aging itself isn't a biological process, it's a word we use to describe age-related wear and tear. Find the reasons why the body cannot keep itself healthy and you've found the causes of "aging"

[JNBirDy]

Here is a lecture a professor of mine did on oxygen and aging... somewhat interesting.

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=3AULMMJK

[ViewsofMars]

This is an excerpt on “Aging changes in organs - tissue – cells” updated on May 2, 2011 from MedlinePlus, which is a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institues of Health. I encourage reading the entire page and explore this wonderful resource.


AGING THEORY

No one really knows how and why people change as they get older. Some theories claim that aging is caused by accumulated injuries from ultraviolet light, wear and tear on the body, by-products of metabolism, and so on. Other theories view aging as a predetermined, genetically-controlled process.

However, no theory sufficiently explains all the changes of the aging process. Aging is a complex and varied process that varies in how it affects different people and even different organs. Most gerontologists (people who study aging) feel that aging is the cumulative effect of the interaction of many lifelong influences. These influences include heredity, environment, cultural influences, diet, exercise and leisure, past illnesses, and many other factors.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004012.htm

Also, EurekAlert is affliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) with the peer-reviewed journal SCIENCE. This is from EurekAlert dated May 5, 2011 entitled 'Mutation provides new insight into the molecular mechanisms of aging":


A new study identifies the mutation that underlies a rare, inherited accelerated-aging disease and provides key insight into normal human aging. The research, published by Cell Press online May 5 in the American Journal of Human Genetics, highlights the importance of a cellular structure called the "nuclear envelope" in the process of aging.

"Aging is a very complex process which affects most biological functions of an organism but whose molecular basis remains largely unknown," explains Dr. Carlos López-Otín from the University of Oviedo in Spain. "Over the last few years, our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying human aging has benefited from studies of premature-aging syndromes, such as Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome, that cause the early development of characteristics normally associated with advanced age."

Previous work has implicated defects in DNA repair systems in human progeria, and more recent studies have also implicated alterations in the nuclear envelope. The nuclear envelope is a structure that surrounds the nucleus of a cell. The nucleus houses the cell's genome, and the nuclear envelope interacts with DNA and regulates the exchange of materials, such as transcription factors that control gene expression, into and out of the nucleus. Mutations in genes for proteins called "lamins" that form major parts of the nuclear envelope have been linked with progeroid syndromes by this group and others. However, other patients do not exhibit mutations in known candidate genes, suggesting the existence of additional genes implicated in premature aging.

Please read on . . .
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-05/cp-mpn050411.php

[DavidMcC]

As an aside, LS, I have a hunch that, if it wasn't for our strange eyes, there would only be one aging mechanism, and that would be photo-oxidative damage to the retina:
http://www.photobiology.info/Rozanowska.html
No invertebrates have solved that problem, and they have only three options: die after a year or so, live mainly in the dark, or have cheap, throw-away eyes (like lobsters).
Just a thought. :)

(NB, In solving it, vertebrate eyes make the problem seem worse than it would have been, by flowing a lot of oxygen-rich bood through the RPE cells.)

[DavidMcC]

... No doubt, other aging mechanisms than optical opsin damage kick in with those invertebrates that circumvent that issue, and live for more than a year or two.