Nutrition and ageing

Question 1

What are macronutrients?

Answer 1

Nutrients that must be sinus especially daily and in relatively large amounts

Question 2

What are micronutrients?

Answer 2

Nutrients that must be consumed in relatively small amounts

Question 3

What are examples of macronutrients?

Answer 3

Proteins, carbohydrates and lipids

Question 4

What are examples of micronutrients?

Answer 4

Vitamins and minerals

Question 5

What are essential nutrients?

Answer 5

Nutrients that must be obtained from the diet

Question 6

What are non essential nutrients?

Answer 6

Nutrients that are not required in the diet because they are produced by biochemical processes of the body

Question 7

What is a nutrient?

Answer 7

Any substance in food that is used by the body to promote normal growth, maintenance and repair

Question 8

When does the absorptive state occur?

Answer 8

The time of eating, digesting and absorbing nutrients

Question 9

When does the post-absorptive state occur?

Answer 9

Time between meals

Question 10

What are the characteristics of the absorptive state?

Answer 10

lasts 4 hours after a meal
- concentrations of nutrients increase as they are absorbed from the gut

Question 11

What are the characteristics of the post-absorptive state?

Answer 11

body relies on stores of nutrients
- body woks to maintain homeostatic levels of nutrients

Question 12

What are the three types of carbohydrates?

Answer 12

monosaccharides: glucose, fructose, galactose
disaccharides: sucrose, lactose, maltose
polysaccharides: dextrose, cellulose, starch, glycogen

Question 13

What is the major hormone during the absorptive state?

Answer 13

Insulin

Question 14

What is the major hormone during the post-absorptive state?

Answer 14

Glucagon

Question 15

Why is regulation of blood glucose so important?

Answer 15

low blood sugar levels compromise normal brain function
- high blood sugar levels damage blood vessels and nerves

Question 16

Diabetes mellitus type 1

Answer 16

inability to produce sufficient insulin
10% of diabetes cases
treated by self-monitoring of glucose and artificially injected insulin

Question 17

Diabetes mellitus type 2

Answer 17

caused by a combination of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors.

Question 18

What is BMI?

Answer 18

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement that uses an individual’s height and weight to estimate body fat

Question 19

What are the three things that causes the body to grow?

Answer 19

growth is driven by genetics (the blueprint for potential)
hormones (the regulators of growth processes)
nutrition (the fuel and building blocks)

Question 20

What is hyperplasia?

Answer 20

the process by which an organ or tissue increases in size due to an increase in the number of its cells

Question 21

What is hypertrophy?

Answer 21

the increase in the size of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its individual cells

Question 22

What are some key changes in rates of height growth?

Answer 22

Infancy
Early Childhood (Ages 2-5)
Middle Childhood (Ages 6-Puberty)
Puberty
Late Adolescence (Post-Puberty)

Question 23

What hormone is essential for bone and muscle growth?

Answer 23

Growth hormone is the key hormone for bone and muscle growth

Question 24

What hormones are important for fetal growth?

Answer 24

Fetal growth is regulated by a combination of IGFs, hPL, insulin, thyroid hormones, cortisol, estrogen, and progesterone.

Question 25

What does GH do?

Answer 25

Growth hormone is essential for overall growth and development, metabolic regulation, tissue repair, and the maintenance of muscle and bone health.

Question 26

What are the key targets of GH?

Answer 26

Growth hormone targets multiple tissues, including the liver, bones, muscles, adipose tissue, kidneys, and immune cells.

Question 27

What stops growth at the end of puberty?

Answer 27

puberty is primarily caused by the closure of growth plates, triggered by hormonal changes, particularly the rise in sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone)

Question 28

What is Hayflick’s limit?

Answer 28

refers to the finite number of divisions that normal somatic cells can undergo before entering senescence, primarily due to telomere shortening.

Question 29

What is a telomere?

Answer 29

is a specialised structure located at the ends of linear chromosomes.

Question 30

What does a telomere do?

Answer 30

essential for maintaining chromosome stability, protecting chromosome ends, and regulating cell division.

Question 31

What happens to telomeres and how are they repaired?

Answer 31

Telomeres naturally shorten with each cell division, leading to cellular senescence once they reach a critical length

Question 32

What are free radicals?

Answer 32

Free radicals are unstable, highly reactive molecules that can cause significant cellular damage if not adequately controlled by the body’s antioxidant defenses.