blogpost72 — 12/19/2013 I came across a fascinating copy of popular science literature, in which the authors talk quite interestingly, intelligibly, and most importantly, with evidence, that a cure for old age is about to be created (not to be confused with the source of eternal life), but for now this moment has not come - everyone can stay young much longer.

The sensational publication went on sale a couple of months ago, completely fresh. The book has the simple title “Life without old age”, and it may seem that this is another work from the category “about everything and nothing” with answers to eternal questions“how to become happy”, “how to never get sick”, “how to save a family”, “how to raise children to be geniuses”, etc. However, the authors of this book are well-known biochemists, and for each of their statements they provide scientific fact, which in principle inspires trust. And their names are quite well known, at least in scientific circles - these are the leading Russian biochemist Vladimir Skulachev, molecular biologist Maxim Skulachev and biochemist Boris Fenyuk. If you type their names into search sites, you can see that their research has been closely followed by almost the whole world for a long time, and there are concrete results (which are also presented in the book). Therefore, this title, and the design of the book itself, is intended rather to attract the attention of a bookstore visitor, and not to scare away with complex terms and “scientific” nature.

Speaking of design. The cover itself has an interesting “candy wrapper” with a photo of... Vladimir Pozner. Perhaps another marketing ploy to attract attention. But the fact is that Vladimir Skulachev attended a TV show by a famous journalist-analyst, where he spoke about his research, and he, in turn, volunteered to test the professor’s recommendations on himself. That’s a fascinating fact in itself, don’t you think?

The book has an unusual, but very successful structure. It consists of two parts - this is stated in the preface, so it is better not to skim through it. The first part is for the “ordinary” curious reader, and it will even be enough to understand the essence. Here, without unnecessary complications and tediousness, we talk about the aging process of the body and how it can be avoided. The second part in some sense complements and in some ways repeats the first. It presents more complex facts of scientific observations, detailed results of experiments mentioned in the first part. Almost every chapter of the first part contains references to the second (more details in such and such a chapter). And if you are really interested, you can read it. Or you don’t have to read it.

The first part is written in simple language, with humor, vivid examples - it’s really pleasant and interesting to read. Although sometimes you have to strain your brain to cope with some terms, without which you can’t do anything at all, or to remember the school biology course, there are few such “pieces” in the text and then “light reading” begins again. By the way, while reading, I thought that the book would be especially interesting to fans of the Discovery or Animal Planet TV channels. They are somewhat close in presenting complex scientific material in human language.

Throughout the entire story, the reader is accompanied by an unusual character - naked mole rat. The peculiarity of this animal is that it does NOT age over the years. They can live up to 30 years or more, which is an unprecedented case for animals the size of a mouse (usually they live for three years, no more). In addition, they practically do not get cancer, there are no cardiovascular diseases. It is not susceptible to viruses. By the way, it looks like a very disgusting creature, but in the illustration in the book there is a rather funny animal, next to its image there are interesting facts and the main ideas of the story in large font.

Most of the book is occupied by a story about how research is being conducted in the field of “aging”, what scientists already know, and what is still at the experimental stage. Facts from the life of unicellular and multicellular organisms, plants and mammals, certain theories about the causes of “aging”, their proof or refutation are presented. This whole story leads the reader to quite significant discovery: Scientists are already very close to creating a cure for old age. That's it. There are already successful experiments, although not on the whole person, but on individual parts of him - for example, it was possible to cure age-related eye diseases (special drops are prescribed only with a doctor’s prescription). There are still many obstacles ahead, but anything is possible. I just wish I could survive. And here the authors offer their seven simple principles to deceive biological aging now, without resorting to drugs. By the way, there is an eighth, but food lovers are unlikely to like it. This is the “don’t finish eating” principle. It turns out that fasting coupled with activity helps to prolong life.

So, about the principles. Although they seem populist, they still find confirmation in the text, and exclusively scientific ones. I’ll give you just a few: for example, in order not to grow old longer, you need to engage in vigorous activity that would be useful to others. You need to have students to whom you can pass on your knowledge and experience. Finally, provide for yourself. Will this help prolong youth? According to the book, yes. Well, it might be worth checking out.

Saved

People age gradually, but some animals begin to age very quickly at the end of their lives, while others do not age at all, and some may even become younger. The diversity of aging mechanisms in nature should alert fans of generalizations, especially against the generalization of the inevitability of aging.

Bacteria reproduce by dividing symmetrically in two. What might aging mean for bacteria that, after dividing, show no difference between parent and child? Single-celled protists like amoebas also reproduce symmetrically, but they still invented a way to age. And even among macroscopic life forms, life spans vary enormously depending on the local ecology and the rate of reproduction. This could hardly have happened as a result of a universal and unshakable process; such fine tuning clearly indicates adaptation.

Mayflies die quickly and suddenly at the end of their reproductive cycle

Life expectancy varies from Methuselah to genetic kamikazes dying by spring afternoon. Dragonflies live for four months, adult mayflies for half an hour. We live for about 70 years, but the ginkgo meristem can be millions of years old. This diversity is even more impressive when you remember that the genetic basis of aging is shared by many creatures, from yeast to whales. But somehow the same genetic mechanisms, inherited from common ancestors at the dawn of life, have been modified to create very different lifespans, ranging from hours (yeast) to thousands of years (redwood and poplar).

Not only does life expectancy vary greatly, but so does the pattern of withering during this period. Aging may occur gradually throughout life (lizards, birds), or an organism may not age at all for decades and then die suddenly (cicadas, agave).

Our inner killer works quietly, like an evil empress poisoning her husband; but in other creatures the internal killers work faster, and in some they are not visible at all genetic programs death. Such diversity is an unambiguous signal of peculiarity shaped by natural selection, and not of the inevitable law of entropy.

Because biomarkers of aging vary so widely among creatures—and even among different representatives one type - it is very difficult to derive a universal definition. A person may turn gray prematurely; a naked baby mole rat may be covered with wrinkles. For an actuary, the answer to the question is simple, even if the answer will appeal only to statisticians: aging is an increase in the mortality rate. In other words, as an animal grows, the risk of death increases.

For example, a 20-year-old person has a 99.9 chance of living to age 21. That is, his chances of dying are 1 in 1000 per year. If this continued, a 40-year-old would also have a 1 in 1,000 chance of dying before his 41st birthday. And we would call this situation “no aging.” In reality, a 40-year-old already has a 2 in 1000 chance of dying before his 41st birthday. The doubling of the risk of death over 20 years is evidence of gradual aging.

Probability of death depending on age

The risk of death is not just growing, but growing at an accelerating rate. Increasing wear and tear, or the chance of dying every year, as we do after reaching adulthood, is called "accelerating decrepitude." But other creatures have different patterns. The likelihood of death may increase and then level off: “slowing senility,” or even a “mortality plateau.” If we choose this definition of aging, we would have to say that if the probability of death does not increase, then the species is not aging. Continuing the trend, although it sounds strange, we can say that if the probability of death decreases with age, then the species ages in reverse, which is called “negative senescence.”

There is another objective measure of aging - decreased fertility. Just as mortality is determined by the probability of death, fertility is determined by the probability of reproduction. Men gradually lose fertility as they age. In women this happens faster, and drops to zero at the time of menopause. But other species have different patterns and schedules. For some, fertility continues to increase throughout most of their lives—another version of “negative senility.”

For example, Blanding's turtle, living in the American Midwest, gradually ages over several decades and does not grow, but at the same time increases fertility. It is clear that her risk of death decreases with age. From an evolutionary perspective, loss of fertility is a major feature. From the point of view of natural selection, after losing fertility, you are no longer as good as dead.

It is natural for us to classify various types according to life expectancy, lump together insects that live for one day and separate them from trees and whales that live for hundreds of years. But most of these differences can be attributed to size. Everything from growth and fertility to aging must happen more slowly in hippos, with slow metabolisms and tons of flesh. That's why we're more impressed by a bee that lives 20 years than a moose that lives 20 years.

But what if we stopped looking at lifespan and compared different species based on shape rather than the length of their life line? Whether they have a long or short life, we will display it on the same scale for comparison. Don't ask how long they live, ask if the population dies gradually, or many of them die in infancy and then the mortality rate declines, or if all deaths occur near the end of the life cycle. A graph published in a 2014 Nature paper does just that, and it clearly shows the range of nature's ingenuity. All possible combinations are presented, with rapid aging, without aging, with reverse aging, and at the same time they can be combined with life cycles lasting weeks, years or centuries. At the same time, the proximity on the graphs is completely unexpected. For example, at the top of the graph, with low mortality rates that suddenly rise towards the end of life, there are humans, laboratory worms and tropical fish. In terms of aging patterns, humans are more like laboratory worms than chimpanzees.

The dark line is fertility, the light line is survival.
Human; guppy; chimpanzee; laboratory worm
oak; turtle; Dioscorea Pyrenees; lizard
hydra; hermit crab; field mouse; viburnum

Graphs show the variety of ways in which animals and plants age in wildlife. The light, downward sloping line is the survival curve, and the thick curve below it is fertility. A downward slope of the survival curve means that over time, fewer and fewer members of a species remain alive. The graphs are constructed in such a way that a straight line going down the diagonal will be neutral - that is, it means no aging. Lines with a hump above the diagonal mean normal aging, and lines with a sag below mean reverse aging, or “negative decrepitude.” For example, people's lines remain flat for a long time, and then quickly falls. This means that many people live a long time, and then their deaths cluster around the age of 80-90 years (statistics taken from modern Japan).

But among animals and plants in the two lower rows, mortality is more even. In turtles and oaks, the curves have a reverse bend. This means that in old age they die less often than in youth - this is reverse aging.

The thick line, fertility, is quite clear. Fertility can increase with the growth of an animal or plant, or decrease with reproductive age– for example, during menopause. Note that animals from the top row lose fertility long before death. This is an evolutionary paradox.

In this diagram, if the survival curve looks like a straight diagonal, this means there is no aging - for example, like hydra and hermit crab. Hydra is a kind of freshwater jellyfish, several millimeters long, and is found in ponds. All animals in the top row exhibit “true aging”—the likelihood of death increases with age. The next two rows show plants and animals that do not age, or age on the contrary. The older they are, the lower the risk of death. This is true for most trees, and for turtles, as well as oysters and sharks (which are not represented here).

The thick curve at the bottom is fertility. Animals from the top row finish reproduction long before death. This brings us to the paradox of evolution for orthodox Darwinists: if the sole purpose of natural selection is to maximize reproduction, why would evolution allow reproduction to fall to zero at such a rate? a large number surviving individuals? A rise in fertility curves means an increase in reproductive output with age, which is another example of negative senescence. When a tree grows larger every year, it is not surprising that it produces more seeds. Dioscorea pyrenees is a vine growing on rocky cliffs in the Pyrenees. If left undisturbed, she lives for at least 300 years, without signs of aging. Moreover, its fertility in the first 20 years is almost zero.

The point of the graphs is that nature can do whatever it wants with aging. Any time scale, any form is possible, and each species has adapted to its ecological environment differently. There are no restrictions.

Instant aging

Aging to death can occur quickly and suddenly, at the end of the reproductive cycle. Sudden death after reproduction, it is often found in nature in organisms as diverse as mayflies, octopuses, salmon, not to mention thousands of plants that bloom once a year. Biologists call this “semelparity,” from the Latin for “single birth.”

The causes of death of semelparous organisms are extremely different. The octopuses stop eating. Male praying mantises sacrifice themselves for the sake of reproduction, going as a snack for females. The salmon destroys its body by releasing steroids.

By the time adult salmon reach the spawning area, their metabolism is already in a pre-collapse stage. The adrenal glands produce steroids (glucocorticosteroids), leading to accelerated, almost instantaneous aging. They stop eating. Steroids lead to collapse immune system, their bodies become covered with fungus. The kidneys atrophy, and neighboring cells enlarge. The circulatory system also suffers. Arteries are damaged in a manner similar to human heart disease. The upstream swim is very difficult, but it is not the mechanical impact that damages their bodies. The cascade of biochemical changes that occurs immediately after reproduction is responsible for this.

Some organisms are genetically programmed to stop eating after reproduction, and starve to death; it is faster and more reliable than conventional aging. Mayflies have no mouth at all and digestive system. Elephants chew so many leaves and twigs in their lifetime that they wear out six sets of teeth. But when the sixth set ends, a new one does not grow, and the pachyderms die of hunger.

Longevity

In 2014, photographer Rachel Sussman published a photo album of antiquities entitled "The Oldest Living Things in the World." These are all plants. One reason for this is that plants don't have to worry about leg muscles being strong enough to walk. Being tied to one territory, they can grow and become stronger, become older and more fertile than any other animal, and reap the benefits of age.

Plants have another secret to longevity. During the early stages of an animal's life, the germ line of cells separates from the rest of the body, or soma. Only the germ line needs to be kept intact to develop into the next generation. The body can afford to be less careful with soma cells and save on their reproduction. But plants have a different system. The soma and germ line are not separated. Plants also have stem cells, and their cells are responsible not only for the growth of the plant, but also for the seeds and pollen that will become the next generation. In a tree, stem cells are located in a thin layer under the bark, the meristem. It spreads into all branches and twigs, and from it grow leaves, as well as buds and seeds. In some ginkgos, non-flowering trees that originated in the Permian period 270 million years ago, the meristem may be a million years old.

But most trees have a certain age, after which mortality increases every year. Stem shoots begin to grow directly from the trunk, while the growth of branches slows down. There are signs that trees become more vulnerable to fungi and disease as they age, but they are usually killed by mechanical stress from excessive size. The very possibility of continued growth, which gives them the property of “reverse aging,” ultimately leads to their decline.

Aging in reverse

The jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula doesn't return to kindergarten at age 65, but it got its 15 minutes of fame in 2010 when it was... scientific journals called the "immortal jellyfish." An adult Turritopsis has acquired cunning trick: Having given birth to polyps, he himself regresses back to a polyp, and begins life again. This occurs due to the transformation of adult cells back into stem cells, which goes against the normal direction of development, from stem cells to specialized ones. He drives back down the one-way development street. Headlines described Turritopsis as the "Benjamin Button of the Sea."

Carpet beetles (Trogoderma glabrum) perform a similar trick, but only when they are starving. Developing on animal carcasses in the forest, they pass through six various stages larvae. They first look like worms, then like centipedes, then like water striders, before eventually developing into six-legged beetles. A pair of entomologists at Wisconsin University in 1972 isolated sixth-stage beetle larvae (when they were ready to become adults) in test flasks and found that without food, they reverted to the fifth stage. And if they starve for many days, they shrink and go further back in stages until they turn back into larvae, as if they had just been born. If feeding is then resumed, they move forward through developmental stages and become adults, maintaining normal duration life. They are able to repeat this cycle over and over again, with scientists fattening them up to the sixth stage and then starving them so that they return to the first. The usual life expectancy of eight weeks was thus extended to two years.

Ancient aging

Hydras are invertebrates with radial symmetry, each with a stalked mouth surrounded by tentacles that grow back when cut off - just like the multi-headed monster from Greek mythology, after whom they were named. They were observed at intervals of up to 4 years in a row, starting with specimens of different ages, caught in the wild, and over time they do not die or become more vulnerable to predators or disease. In the human body, special cells, such as blood cells, skin cells and stomach cells, die and grow back. Hydra's entire body is structured this way; it regenerates from a base of stem cells every few days. Some cells die, others, having reached a certain size, turn into hydra clones that bud from its body. This ancient way reproduction, coping without sex. Sex is not necessary for the hydra - she rarely engages in it.

A recent article claims that Hydra is aging, and this can be seen in its slowing cloning rate. The author believes that it is possible that clones inherit the age of the parent. It has been hypothesized that only sexual reproduction resets the aging clock. If this is true, then Hydra's aging is a return to protists, ancestral microbes more complex than bacteria. Some of them have a limited lifespan because they can only divide a limited number of times before they run out of reproductive gasoline—unless they are reset by gene swapping (the protist version of sex), which resets their clock. Amoebas and microbes of the genus Paramecium are examples of such protists, single-celled with a long line of life, which in ancient times gave rise to more than 100,000 species - algae, slugs, ciliates, and other organisms not belonging to the kingdoms of animals, fungi, plants and bacteria.

Disabling aging

Queen bees and worker bees have the same genes, but different durations life. In queens, royal jelly turns off aging. When a new hive begins, the nurse bee selects—randomly, as far as we can tell—one larva to receive the royal liquid diet. Certain physiologically active chemical ragweed in royal jelly switches the lucky bee into growth mode and it turns into a queen instead of a worker bee. The jelly gives the queen overdeveloped gonads, which gives her her characteristic size and shape. The queen makes one flight early in her career, during which she can mate with a dozen different drones, and store their sperm for years.

Under the weight of the eggs, the adult queen can no longer fly and becomes a reproductive machine. She lays 2,000 eggs a day, more than her own weight. Of course, such a machine requires a retinue of workers to feed it, remove waste, and transmit pheromones (chemical signals) to the rest of the hive's inhabitants.

Worker bees live for several weeks and die of old age. And they don't just wear out from damaged body parts that break in the cruel world in which they live. Their survival follows a familiar mathematical shape, the Gompertz curve - a characteristic survival graph common in humans and other animals that indicates aging. But queen bees, although their genes are identical to worker bees, do not show symptoms of aging. They can live for years, and sometimes, in stable hives, for decades. They represent miracles without age. The Queen dies when she runs out of sperm from her wedding flight. She can continue to lay eggs, but they will be unfertilized and only drones without stingers can grow from them. The same workers who served the queen kill her by surrounding her and pinching her to death.

Life expectancy after the reproductive period

Why does menopause exist? We care about the young and large families, and our devotion does not end once children grow up and become parents themselves. Therefore, the usual explanation for life continuing after fertility ends is called the “grandmother hypothesis.” Women have a genetic interest in raising healthy grandchildren. Perhaps at age 60 they can contribute more to their genetic heritage by caring for their grandchildren than by having children of their own. The hypothesis sounds reasonable, at least to humans, but demographers have found it very difficult to back up with numbers in hand.

Whales and elephants are also experiencing their fertility. They are also social animals. Perhaps they are more important to their grandchildren than we think. But there are other animals that live after their fertility is exhausted. Guppies, water fleas, nematodes, rotifers that make any lazy dad look like Mary Poppins. They lay eggs and that's it. And they won’t move a wing (or fin) to take care of the young, much less their grandchildren. And yet, modern evolutionary theory says that no natural selection makes them live any longer, so they must die off.

In 2011, Charles Goodnight and I imagined how evolution could lead to life after reproduction. The idea itself sounds unlikely, but it matches the numbers. The older segment of the population, the retired one, is needed to maintain population stability in cycles of plenty and famine. IN good times they eat excess food and prevent excessive population growth. When food is scarce, they are the first to die.

The types of aging in nature are as diverse as can be, suggesting that nature can turn aging on and off at will. Therefore, we can be forgiven for being very skeptical about theories that talk about the need for aging. Whatever theory of aging we have, it needs to be flexible, diverse and not reject exceptions.

Josh Mitteldorf is a theoretical biologist with a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. He has his own website, AgingAdvice.org, and writes a column for ScienceBlog.com. He conducts visiting classes at MIT, Harvard and Berkeley.

Dorion Sagan is a famous writer, environmental philosopher, and theorist. His articles have appeared in publications such as Natural History, Smithsonian, Wired, New Scientist, and The New York Times.

The numerologist compiled the first cosmetology reference book on the psychomatrix.

Have you ever wondered why you haven’t been able to get rid of bags under your eyes for a good six months? Is your friend beautiful even without any makeup? Why do some always wrinkle their foreheads, while others curl their lips?

If you have been spending half your salary on cosmetologist’s offices for a long time, and you can’t get enough strength from “grandmother’s masks,” then this cosmetology horoscope is for you. Numerologist Olga Pertseva is sure that the appearance of wrinkles is directly related to our date of birth. Want to know how to properly take care of your face? Just calculate your matrix by googling “calculate Pythagorean matrix” or using a mobile application.

Matrix of rapid aging

You are at risk if you have three or more units in the “Character” column; the “Debt” sector is strong ( large number eights) and in the “Memory” column there are many nines.

“These people are more prone than others to nasolabial wrinkles, lip folds, glabellar lines, double chins, bags under the eyes and crow’s feet,” the site shares. numerologist Olga Pertseva. - Great moral stress, the desire to take care of loved ones first, then of yourself. Strong emotional pressure, frequent depression and suffering, a feeling of unrequited love and care, a person puts a lot of effort into others and never receives a return. Angry and upset."

Advice: Don't take on more than you can handle. Understand that not everyone will be able to give you the same amount of care, and you will continue to wait and criticize... You are overloaded with criticism of yourself and others. Let go of the situation, accept the individuality of those around you. And remember that absolutely everyone has something to learn...

Sleep deprivation matrix

All you need is proper time management if your matrix looks something like this: “Character” – 1, “Health” – 4, “Luck” – 7, “Energy” – 2, “Duty” – 8, “Interest” – 3, “Work” – 6, “Memory” – 99, “Goal” – 3, “Carnal” – 2.

“Wrinkles between the eyebrows, bags under the eyes, dry and sagging skin. If this is typical for you, it is only because of the eternal lack of time to sleep and complete care“Olga Pertseva continued.

Tip: have Learn to value and save your time. Time is the most valuable resource. Learn the principles of time management. Stick to a routine, especially when it comes to your sleep. Lights out should be no later than 23:00; sleep for you is a source of strength and youth.

The matrix is ​​emotional

Take a closer look and if you see the following indicators, then urgently learn to relax and reduce the level of aggression in possible and impossible ways: “Character” – 1111, “Health” – 44, “Energy” – 22, “Duty” – 88, “Interest” – 33 and “Memory” – 99!

“Strongly pronounced forehead and nasolabial wrinkles,” shares numerologist Olga Pertseva. - A person experiences an explosion of emotions, indignation and aggression within himself, restrained by a sense of duty. But at the same time, facial expressions continue to express indignation, and often the only thing possible option To show emotion, all you have to do is raise your eyebrows! Sometimes resentment can be long-lasting, which is why the wrinkles are deep. However, in such a matrix there is a lot positive emotions, smiles and laughter. A person laughs a lot, jokes and smiles a lot, communicates a lot. The nasolabial wrinkle is deep and noticeable.”

Advice: n Don’t be silent, the more you talk about your experiences, the more thoughts are broadcast, the better. Do not tolerate where it is unnecessary. Sing! Vocals relieve internal aggression and free you from the desire to be indignant.

Matrix of Eternal Youth

Yes, yes! Clap your hands and jump to the ceiling for those who have a coefficient of 2 in the “Goal” column.

“Having such a matrix, a person may have wrinkles, however appearance still retains youthfulness. It often happens that it is thanks to the odds (½/3) in the “Target” sector. A person becomes younger over the years, for example, the figure becomes better after 30 years, and not vice versa, as usually happens - everything is fine until 30.

Advice: if you see a ½/3 goal in yourself in the matrix, rest assured: your youth has a longer shelf life and most often depends on your internal state. The unemployed and cheerful child inside you will live longer.

Matrix "perfection itself"

If you have more than two twos in the Energy sector, and also a couple of fours in Health, then you simply have to push Irina Shayk onto the podium.

“In the case of such strong indicators as 44 and 222, nature took care of you and your descendants. You have a beautiful or strong body, teeth, hair and skin. Your age can be guessed, but only approximately, because your age will always catch your eye. perfect body", comments the numerologist.

Advice: unload emotionally, play sports so as not to overload your nervous system. In this case, your youth will remain for a very long time, and no one will be able to explain this phenomenon.

Transcript of a conversation with Italian psychologist Rita Parlani Bruti, organized by Vladimir Malyanov. The topic of aging is avoided; I don’t want to think about old age. The desire for rejuvenation leads to the rejuvenation industry. All over the world, old age is viewed the same way. Young people don't think about old age and...

"Severe" illnesses

Some cases of stimulation, aggravation, cunning and laziness of patients that I have encountered:
1. I didn’t like the work. Young people and girls undergo a medical examination, get a job in production, and after 1-1.5 months they realize that they don’t like the job/salary, and physical problems begin: pain in the neck, lower back, head,

Was there a boy?

Dear colleagues, one of our favorite sections “Sniper Tournament” continues its shooting. We are no longer looking clinical tasks on the Internet - you send them. This time the task is very interesting and unusual. We invite everyone to participate, and we look forward to new tasks from you. Send them to me in private messages...

“I got enough sleep...”

Another duty, night, a rather dull and terribly tired doctor is reclining on the sofa and here he is so disgusting phone call cuts the silence of the night. The nurse from the next department demands that you approach the granny with hypertensive crisis, there is nothing to do and the doctor kindly swears under his breath and shuffles with his boots

A hotline for “medical errors” has been launched in Russia

Activists of the organization “Zone of Law” launched hotline, which operates throughout Russia, to which people can contact with questions “ medical errors", reports "Rain". It will work from April 17 to April 26 on weekdays and will accept requests for deaths or serious harm to health...

We make choices for our children

We can choose what to do. We are free in our choice. But we must remember: the consequences of this choice will no longer depend on us... Stephen.R. Covey Pregnancy...a long-awaited and joyful event for almost every woman...And so many fears and worries associated with this event. Is everything okay...

Man, 56 years old, type 2 diabetes, signs of encephalopathy

complaints of numbness and weakness in right hand and left leg, according to relatives, blood sugar has been elevated for a year, for medical care did not apply, the numbers are 12-16 mmol/l. Currently, during the week, speech impairment, drowsiness, blood sugar is 11.6 according to tests oam-sugar3+, oak-norm, advice is needed...

PCOS, selection of acne therapy

Patient, 30 years old. Worth about 8 years diagnosis of PCOS. Ultrasound and laboratory confirmed. Body weight is normal (BMI 23). There was 1 pregnancy (stimulated, ended in spontaneous childbirth). My main concern was acne. The cycle is not regular (more than 40 days). I once took Jess ( allergic reaction,

Initial doctor appointment

Good afternoon, colleagues! Previously, there was Order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation dated July 16, 2001 N 269 “On the introduction into force of the industry standard “Complex and complex medical services. Composition", which clearly stated what was included in initial appointment doctor Then it was canceled and a nomenclature of medical services was introduced...

Numerus stultorum infinitus est

Numerus stultorum infinitus est - There are no number of fools (lat.). I think it was Bernard Shaw who said: Everyone is a complete idiot for five minutes a day. Wisdom lies in not exceeding this value. Alas, quite often people significantly exceed the limit established by the classic.

Sigma oncology and kidney cancer under?

A 68-year-old woman during a colonoscopy was found to have a polyp in the sigmoid colon, a biopsy of which was diagnosed as a tumor. sigmoid colon T1NOMOG2. Under the voppom there is also a tumor of the left kidney, a biography from cystic formation which it was not possible to take. The woman was given a referral to receive a quota for...

If you think about the fact that there are a huge number of different types of aging in nature, doubt arises about the inevitability of this process.

As you know, a person ages gradually throughout his life, and what we call growing up is actually the opposite phenomenon. Few people know that some living organisms age only at the end of their lives, and some even become younger over time and then suddenly die.

Does this mean that there is something living on our planet that can exist forever? This question has plagued scientists for many years. If we take the facts and consider them in the context of the diversity of forms of aging, we can come to the conclusion that a person may well be immortal.

Let's begin our study using the example of the most primitive creatures - bacteria. Bacteria reproduce extremely simply: they divide in half, maintaining perfect symmetry. The question arises: what is the aging process for bacteria if, after division, each of the halves does not know who is the “parent” and who is the “child”?

Such unicellular protists, like amoebas, reproduce by symmetrical division, but, oddly enough, even they are mortal. Each of huge number macroscopic organisms have their own rate of aging depending on living conditions and other factors, so this can hardly be an established norm. Most likely, there is a subtle adaptation to the conditions of existence here.

The lifespan of various living creatures is surprising: there are both long-lived animals and insects that live less than a minute. For example, dragonflies can live underwater for four months, but adult mayflies can live for only half an hour. Also surprising is the fact that a female black ant lives on average as long as a moose - 20 years.

The average human lifespan is 70 years, while ginkgo meristems can exist for millions of years. This range is even more impressive when we realize that the genetic aging process is very similar in many creatures: the genetic principle that was inherited from the first organisms on Earth is present in both the giant sequoia and, for example, yeast cells.

As previously written, the aging process can occur in completely different ways in different animals. For example, most mammals age gradually, year after year, but cicadas may not age for several years before suddenly dying. The “human” aging process is perfectly thought out by nature, and if you study it thoroughly, you can easily live several decades longer.

Until now, completely new forms of life are emerging, which from birth contain a built-in “program of death” and inevitably acquire it in the process of life. Many reasons for this phenomenon are still unclear. However, the most popular is the theory of natural selection, in which, as is known, the stronger representative lives longer.

The aging process in each organism, including humans, has special biological markers, due to which representatives of the same species live for different amounts of time, depending on the area of ​​residence, type of life activity, heredity, and so on.

The aging process varies differently among different creatures: a person’s hair turns gray in old age, and a baby mole rat is covered with wrinkles from birth. All these features have scientific basis, so we can deduce one truth that is inherent in all life on our planet: the more time has passed after the birth of a living organism, the greater the likelihood of its death.

In other words, with every minute you live, everything appears more factors, both external and internal, which negatively affect the existence of a particular individual.

If we consider the dynamics of mortality among people, we will see a not very pleasant picture. For example, a 20-year-old man has a 99.9% chance of surviving to his 21st birthday, while a 40-year-old man has a 98.8% chance of living to see his 21st birthday.

As age increases, statistics become much more pessimistic: at 60 years old, a man’s probability of dying before reaching 61 is on average 99%, and for an 80-year-old, the probability of living one day longer is only 94%.

As we see, the risk of death is constantly growing. The chances of dying continually increase as a person reaches adulthood. This process is called "accelerated aging." In accordance with this principle, most living organisms age.

Science also has a concept called “instant aging,” which is characterized by a complete stop of this degenerative process in the body for a certain period of life, and then the sudden onset of death.

There is even such a strange phenomenon as “neglectable aging,” in which the dynamics of the risk of death decreases from year to year. An objective sign of this type of aging is an increase in fertility with age.

In men and women, the ability to reproduce offspring declines throughout life, but in women reproductive function fades faster than in men.

Living organisms have different models of fertility decline. For example, the Blanding's turtle is a type of box turtle found on the West Coast North America- does not mature for several decades, but with age her birth rate increases, so her risk of dying decreases with age, which is a clear example of neglected aging.

The process of reproduction can be viewed from two points of view: from an evolutionary one - the loss of the ability to reproduce is primary, and also from the point of view of natural selection - the absence of the ability to reproduce means that you are already dead.

Classify types of aging different types living beings can also be external signs. Thus, the most common classification criterion is based on the size of the organism. For example, insects that live less than a day, can be divided into one group, and whales or trees that have existed for a hundred years - into the second.

Thus, all processes, including the onset of puberty and the beginning of aging in a whale, given its weight and taking into account the metabolic rate, should occur much more slowly than in a small mosquito or butterfly.

But what if we try to consider the aging process, taking into account not the length of life, but its shape? For clarity, you can depict the lifespan of various animals on the same scale, so that it immediately becomes clear which species ages gradually and which at the end of its life cycle.

In 2014, among other things, the popular journal Nature published several diagrams that demonstrate the amazing nature of aging in various living beings. All are listed there known types aging: gradual, instantaneous and neglected, which reveals to our gaze completely unexpected sides this process. For example, in terms of patterns of fertility or aging, humans are more like worms than chimpanzees.

The graphs above demonstrate various types aging in some species of living beings. The thin line on the graph is survival, the thick line is birth rate.

If the thin line tends downward, this means that over time, fewer and fewer representatives of this species remain alive. In the case when the thin line goes down strictly diagonally, this means that, in theory, the body does not have an aging process. Line light color indicates an indicator of normal aging.

A striking example of this can happen to a person whose line remains straight for a long time, and then there is a sharp decline, after about 70-80 years. This means that for many years the survival rate of people is maximum, but in old age this figure drops sharply and becomes practically “zero” by the age of 100.

A survival line with a deflection below the diagonal means the so-called negligible aging, which we already wrote about above. For example, in some species of turtles or oak trees, the risk of dying in old age is significantly lower than in youth.

With the birth rate line, everything is clear: the birth rate in animals increases with age and decreases along with reproductive age, including at the onset of menopause. It is worth noting that many animals lose the ability to reproduce long before death, this is an evolutionary mystery.

The animals in the lower graphs have an almost straight line of survival, which means that they are potentially immortal, such as the hydra or the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula. Hydra is a small freshwater polyp no more than a few millimeters long that lives in ponds and lakes.

In general, the meaning of the above graph is that nature has power over aging or the lack thereof. You can observe different time periods of life. Any of its forms is possible. Each species of living beings is adapted to specific environmental circumstances.

Longevity

A few years ago, renowned nature photographer Rachel Sussment published an article entitled “The Longest Living Creatures on Planet Earth.” All of them, without exception, turned out to be plants. According to the photographer, the secret to their longevity is that the trees do not need to move on the ground in search of food.

Confined to one place, they can grow large and hardy, and over the years they become increasingly fertile, which is not the case with most animals. Of course, there is some truth in this statement, but, of course, this is not the only reason why plants, in most cases, live much longer than animals.

Most main reason, naturally, is the process of reproduction, which in plants is radically different from what is inherent in the animal world.

So, in animals early stage development, the germ line of cells is separated from the somatic line. For further reproduction, first of all, animals retain germ cells, because somatic cells are less important.

In contrast, in plants, germ cells and somatic cells do not separate throughout life. Plant stem cells, in addition to growth, are also responsible for the development of seeds and pollen.

In trees, stem cells are located thin layer under the bark, known as the meristem. For example, relict ginkgo trees growing in the mountains of China have preserved meristems that are more than 250 million years old. Thus, today these plants are among the most ancient organisms on Earth.

Negligible aging

In 1990, in one of his works, the American gerontologist Caleb Finch first used the term “minor” or “negligible” aging. In fact, this term refers to the minimal aging correlation between age and the likelihood of death.

Its purpose scientific work- confirmation of the hypothesis according to which there are immortal living organisms on the planet, and the aging process can be controlled with the help of science.

To date, scientists have discovered several dozen species of creatures that have this type of aging. Moreover, as recent studies have shown, negligible aging is also inherent in humans. This applies to people who live until they are about 100 years old, after which their risk of dying does not increase as they age. Also, all people who have lived to this age are genetically similar to each other.

As for animals, then vivid examples neglected aging: Aleutian sea bass, whose age can reach up to 200 years and Icelandic bivalve mollusk, “living” up to 400 years. But as mentioned earlier, there are potentially immortal individuals in nature.

For example, the immortality of the hydra is proven due to its exceptional ability to regeneration: during the experiment, scientists managed to create immortal organisms of this species. This became possible due to the fact that the hydra does not have a complex nervous system.

An even more amazing example of immortality is the jellyfish Turritopsis nutricula. Upon reaching the maturity stage, these amazing creatures turn into a polyp and begin development again. In fact, this animal can rejuvenate itself. This process, which, in essence, is the elixir of youth, has not yet been fully studied.

"Switching off" aging

You can make many theories and hypotheses about how to do anything. living creature immortal, including humans. The only thing that is clear is that we will most likely never be able to outwit nature.

Having studied a huge number of different types of aging of the body, we can conclude that nature is capable of completely adjusting the lifespan of each creature to suit itself.

We can also conclude that nature is able to “turn on” and “turn off” the aging process in some animals. Is there any point in comparing simplest organism Hydra with the most complex human body? That's another question.

Whatever theory of aging appears, it must be flexible enough and capable of explaining all types of this process that exist in nature without exception.