HDP 150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Hayflick Limit, Amyloid, Programmed Cell Death
Document Summary
Concerned with answering basic questions regarding the physiological processes that occur in all living organisms as they chronologically age. Primary aging, or senescence, involves universal and irreversible changes due to genetic programming. Secondary aging encompasses how you age due to factors more under your control illness, health, habits: not inevitable. Skeletal age: best estimate of physical maturity (days alive) Functional age: a measure of how well one is able to function in their social environment (some 80 year olds seem older or younger than others of the same age, activity, etc. : rate-of-living theories. Limited energy, excess calories, hormonal regulatory system adaptation to stress. Faster your metabolism, the shorter your lifespan. Larger animals often outlive smaller ones, and larger animals often have slower metabolisms than other species. When you"re processing energy or nutrients, you create free radicals (mitochondria). Free radicals can cause damage to cells, need oxygen to survive but also slowly kills us.