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Theories of Aging

These theories can be briefly characterised as follows:

Wear and tear - important molecules incur damage and not adequately replaced (mitochondria can't repair DNA)

Genetic mutation - occur naturally as cells function causing inefficiency

Free radical - molecules with outer orbits containing odd number of electrons that can only become stable by gaining or losing an electron and tries to unite with any available molecule - effects of this often cause the target molecule to function improperly or not at all. antioxidants slow it

Error catastrophe - dwindling DNA repair capacity, vital genes lost, proteins not synthesised or defective copies of essential proteins made

Cellular clocks - leonard hayflick's theory. cell function and cell division have determined limits that result in disfunction. with each cell division the sequence of chromosome "telomeres" is reduced at a fixed rate.

Neuroendocrine - programmed changes in hormone secretion and levels linked to aging

Immune system - loses its ability to recognise host tissues, resulting in rejection of own tissues

Pollution accumulation - at a cellular level, like lipofuscin - though not yet shown to impede functioning, even in large amounts

Cross-linking - collagen proteins (cellular glue) in the shape of ladders connect with each other by forming linking "rungs" that makes tissues less pliable and may prevent normal cell metabolism, or damage DNA eventually causing cell death

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Nature's Course

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