Health
The number of ways to rejuvenate the body and stop the aging process is increasing exponentially every year. Scientific minds around the world are working to find an elixir that will help turn back the clock, but is it possible? Is it possible not only to prolong youth, but also to start the process of rejuvenation at the cellular level?
Let's try to figure this out.
Sudden rejuvenation cases
The story of Rosa Faroni
In world practice, there are cases of so-called age regression, in which people in old age began to become younger.
Thus, Italian Rosa Faroni began to grow young rapidly at the age of 97. She came to her 100th birthday with the appearance of a 35-year-old woman. However, she never used the services of cosmetologists and plastic surgeons. Doctors conducted a thorough examination of the woman, during which they found that the condition of her internal organs and blood pressure not only do not correspond to her real age, but also better, what they were 10 to 15 years ago.
A phenomenon? An anomaly? Even gerontologists can't answer these questions.
See also: How to start rejuvenation processes in your body – Video
Fukuoka Blue Roses
Cases of spontaneous rejuvenation of elderly people were noted in Fukuoka, which became known all over the world after the Hiroshima nuclear bombing and Dark blue roses began to grow in Nagasaki.
Fukuoka residents — household waste recycler Sampu Issa and seamstress Sei Senagon — began to grow younger in 1979 at the age of 75. It is noteworthy that they did not know each other, and before this age, each of them had a “bunch” of senile diseases: arthritis, heart failure, tooth decay, visual impairment, etc.
Doctors made disappointing predictions about their state of health and prepared them for hospitalization.
But on the night of October 23, 1979, both residents experienced amazing metamorphoses with their appearance: gray hair disappeared, their hair became dark. A week later, their gums started to bleed and their decayed teeth were torn off. It took another 7 days and they had new teeth. The skin turned from old and flabby to young and elastic, vision became sharper, lens opacity disappeared, and blood pressure corresponded to 18 years of age.
Samp Issa and Say Senagon looked 30 years old when they were 75 years old, they were not recognized by acquaintances. In 1981, Sampa Issa was married to a 17-year-old neighbor who gave birth to a daughter. Say Senagon also got married and gave birth to twins.
But in 1985, nature took over: rejuvenated centenarians aged within a week and passed away. Their children died at a fairly young age from diseases inherent in old age.
The list of rejuvenated Fukuoka residents also includes military pilot Sakishi Rio, an article about whom was published in 2011 in The New York Times. His case is unique in that at the age of 100, his brain metastases disappeared, his vision and hearing were extremely acute, and his internal organs, including the lungs and heart, rejuvenated. It is also interesting that his blood type changed every month.
At the same time, despite his ideal physical condition, Mr. Rio lost his speech, logical thinking, memory, and the ability to care for himself.
After studying all these cases, geneticists came to the conclusion that during the nuclear bombing, the human hereditary code was mutated. Moreover, it has been suggested that the genes of youth are actually oncogenes that, for some unexplained reason (possibly due to severe stress), began intensively destroy aging cells, not healthy ones.
Be that as it may, such rejuvenation did not allow us to avoid aging and death.
Read also: The new secret of eternal youth: facial massage.. with snails
Telomeric theory
In 2015, a unique experiment was launched, in which only one volunteer took part — Elizabeth Parrish, director of biotechnology company BioViva.
In search of an “elixir of youth”, she agreed to intravenous administration of genetic material that can slow down the aging process and activate the body's rejuvenation by lengthening telomeres.
What are telomeres? In simple and understandable terms, these are protective caps of linear chromosomes that shorten with each division. Sooner or later, there comes a time when shortening affects vital genes, thereby causing cell death.
It is the telomeres located at the ends of chromosomes that are shortened first, thereby extending the life of body cells.
However, with age, telomeres decrease in length and they can no longer protect chromosomes, which leads to aging and an increased risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus and certain forms of dementia.
Based on the so-called telomeric theory, Elizabeth Parrish suggested that telomere lengthening could stop the aging process at the cellular level.
The first interim results of the experiment were released six months later. It turned out that the white blood cells in Elizabeth's blood became younger, while the telomeres were longer (their sizes were the same as they were 20 years ago)!
Everything would be fine, but we should not forget that our blood is constantly being renewed: every hour about 5 billion white blood cells “die” in the blood of an adult, replaced by new young people cells. Therefore, leukocyte rejuvenation is a physiological process and is not associated with the introduction of the “miracle gene” studied by Elizabeth Parrish.
In 2018, new data were published on the BioViva website, according to which telomere length continued to increase without additional genetic material. At the same time, the total cellular rejuvenation over the entire period of the experiment was 30 years. Elizabeth Parrish herself called these results impressive!
However, this method of rejuvenating and prolonging youth requires further study and clinical trials. In addition, not all scientists share Parrish's enthusiasm for the effect of telomere lengthening on the aging process.
Well, wait and see!
Read also: Longevity test: How much time does your biological body have left?
Another scientific theory
Harvard Medical School researchers led by David Sinclair during an experiment on mice came to the conclusion that an increase in the content of NAD+ in the body (full name nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) can not only stop the aging process, but reverse it.
How does this theory work?
With age, the content of the NAD+ coenzyme decreases, which disrupts the functions of the neural network and mitochondria (the latter ensure cellular respiration). It can be replenished by injecting a compound called nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN for short), which is converted by cells to NAD+.
During the experiment, NMN, administered to mice, led to the following results: in just a week, the muscles of two-year-old mice were indistinguishable from the muscles of six-month-old rodents. In addition to improving muscle condition, other changes were also observed:
mitochondrial functions have been restored; insulin resistance
has increased; inflammation in the body
has decreased.
However, it should be remembered that the aging process and metabolism in humans and rodents differ significantly, so it is too early to talk about such an impressive result in humans. Although Harvard scientists still hope that they will be able to find the secret of youth, even if they will be able to discover and apply it in practice no sooner than in 15 to 20 years, when they are conducted human tests, all side effects and contraindications have been identified.
Like scientists, we have no choice but to wait.
And while scientists around the world are struggling to create a “rejuvenating apple”, we will focus on how to at least delay the manifestations of old age.
Prevention of premature aging
Breathing for rejuvenation
Oxygen deficiency in the body provokes metabolic disorders and a decrease in energy potential, which leads to organic pathologies in cells and organs, triggering the aging process.
Breathing practices (namely holding your breath) help fight premature aging.
In the process of holding breathing, cellular respiration is activated, the blood is enriched with oxygen, the absorption of which improves, and gas exchange processes increase. All this has a positive effect on our well-being and appearance, prolonging beauty and youth.
Here is the simplest breathing technique that anyone can master:
take a
shallow breath; hold your breath;
focus on exhaling, which should be as long as possible (to lengthen the exhalation, it is recommended to do it with a sound).
Practicing holding your breath every day, after 2 to 3 weeks you will feel positive changes: shortness of breath will go away, breathing will become more even, and your mood will improve.
Read also: 5 signs your body is aging too fast and how to stop it
Rejuvenation nutrition
To maintain its vital functions, the body needs the energy it receives from food. And the general condition of the body depends on how useful these very products will be.
A diet dominated by protein foods, which is also called “dead” because they do not contain oxygen, leads to the rapid multiplication of harmful anaerobic bacteria. They are responsible for the increased content of toxic and acidic waste in the body, which cause a large number of diseases.
What should I do? Switch exclusively to fruits and vegetables?
No. First of all, you should adhere to moderation and awareness in nutrition:
Exclude alcohol, fatty, fried, smoked foods, processed foods, harmful animal fats.
Eat moderate amounts of meat, fish and eggs — protein sources that promote the synthesis of new cells.
The basis of the diet should be grains, legumes, nuts, fruits, vegetables and greens.
A balanced diet contributes to the active nutrition of cells and the synthesis of complex polymers, so that the organs and systems of our body will function normally and recover.
Sexual abstinence
Sexual energy is the most powerful and one of the most valuable resources continuously created in a man's body. By preserving the seed, a man accumulates a huge amount of energy, which is redirected to improving the whole body and producing stem cells, which play a key role in preserving youth.
When wasting seed, a man is subjected to a tremendous load, because after ejaculation, most of the body's energy and strength are spent on the reproduction of a new seed.
Sexual abstinence helps maintain energy and prolong youth.
At the same time, we should not forget that old age is inevitable. In pursuit of eternal youth, we are wasting precious time. We are all mortal, and therefore, first of all, we must think about what legacy we will leave behind, because each of us has its own mission.
Philosophically speaking, death should be regarded as the main motivation for self-realization, without which we would have a unique opportunity to degrade indefinitely, that we will always have time to fix things and change our lives for the better.
So don't have illusory hopes of eternal youth, but focus
on living your life with dignity and leaving with a sense of accomplishment.