Health Sciences 2711A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Robin Holliday, Gerontology, Hormesis
12 Apr 2021
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Document Summary
Ageing contested: anti-ageing science and the cultural construction of old age. Introduction: ageing and death are biological universals which all cultures have methods of explaining and dealing with. It is clear from this abstract that old age is thought of as a pathological condition, one which science has the imminent prospect of curing: culture embedded in language, even that used by scientists. Aging lecture 3 notes on readings: the more aging fits a disease model, the more money is spent on it, medicalization of old age makes people feel guilty for being the cause of their own ageing. It is distinguishable from youth by biological markers such as shortened telomeres or less-efficient apoptosis. Aging lecture 3 notes on readings: rather than valuing life in all its diversity, including its final phase, it leads to misguided devotion of resources to solving the problem of death.
