Aging in the Nervous System: Manaye Flashcards
What is aging?
the process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated
What is senescence?
the decline of fitness components of an individual with increasing age, owing to internal deterioration
What is gerontology?
the scientific study of biological, psychological, and sociological phenomena associated with old age and againt
What is geriatrics?
the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and problems specific to the aged
What is biogerontology?
the study of biology of aging and longeveity
What is the life span like in the US?
its increased over the years
females (82) have a higher life expectancy than males (74)
-our hormones keep us young
What are factors responsible for the increasing human survivorship?
- improved housing, sanitation, antiseptics
- public health, hygiene, immunization
- antibiotics, improved medical practice, nutrition, health education
- recent biomedical breakthroughs
Compare the proportion of population aged 0-14 versus 65 and older from 1861-2050
aged 0-14 is decreasing over the years
-significant reduction of young people due to family planning, professional training, and population control
65 and older is increasing over the years
What is the ultimate physician goal?
-to improve understanding of the mechanisms of longevity which can be used to fight age-related diseases and disabilities to ensure a healthy, active, and independent life well into very old age
What is ageism?
- can be seen as a process of systemic stereotyping and discrimination against people because they are old
- old people are categorized as senile, rigid in thought and manner, old-fashioned in morality and skills
- ageism allows the younger generations to see older people as different from themselves; thus they subtly cease to identify with their elders as human beings
What is successful aging?
when individual ages chronologically same as other old person but elderly person is preventing pathologies by making lifestyle changes to improve health
- with successful aging, an individual is enhancing cognitive and emotional health by:
1. exercising avoiding exposure to pathogen, radiation, noise, stress
2. maintaining a happy lifestyle and their psychological well being - maintain physical function
- avoid disease
- maintain mental function
- enjoy life
- there is a heterogeneity of various values and functions
- many associated with physical inactivity
What is cell senescence and death?
- biological responses to a variety of stresses that results in persistent growth arrest of damaged or dysfunctional cells with a distinct morphological and biochemical phenotype.
- its beneficial early in life but may contribute to aging later on
What are some senescence inducers?
- telomere dysfunction
- chromatin perturbation induced apoptosis/necrosis- generation of ROS that cause oxidative deterioration of biological molecules
- DNA damage
- strong mitogenic signals: DNA damage caused by ROS (by product of oxidative phosphorylation)
What are some senescence phenotypes as a result of senescence inducers?
- growth arrest
- functional changes
- resistance to apoptosis
What are the ecological theories of aging?
external factors that causes mutation or damage to DNA
- UV irradiation
- background irradiation-mutation
- physical use
What is programmed aging theory?
- normal expression of genetic program that begins at conception
- biological clock in cells dictate life span; subject to enormous variation
- this theory focuses on genetic programming encoded in our DNA
- determined by physical fitness, hygiene, and nutrition
What is cellular aging theory?
- wear and tear: the difference is how you keep yourself healthy- due to emotional and physical stresses to which we subject our bodies (i.e.UV rays from the sun)
- free radicals
- oxygen free radicals generated cause
cumulative oxidative damage, resulting in structural degeneration, (apoptosis), functional decline, and age-related diseases
What is mitochondrial dysfunction and aging theory?
cause the end of our chromosomes (telomeres) to shorten
- we have increased oxidative stress with normal aging; as a result, the damage they cause exceed the ability to scavenge free radicals or repair their damage
a. ROS damage mitochondria, DNA, proteins, lipid???
b. SOD and catalase reduce oxidative stress
c. In alzheimer’s disease the brain is under pronounced oxidative stress, caused by beta amyloid precursors
- Because the mitochondria regulates: iron metabolism; heme metabolis; programmed cell death; cellular division and differentiation—all these things will be affected