Everything you Want to Know about Aging
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Why do we Age? Put simply, we age because we lose the battle against stress. As we age our bodies lose the ability to fend off and repair the destructive effects of the constant stress we are all subject to throughout our lives. Stress, whether it is mental or physical in origin has scientifically demonstrated destructive effects throughout our body and mind. These effects run the gamut from close-mindedness and intolerance to high blood pressure and heart disease to low back pain to ulcers to skin wrinkling to cancer and eventually to death.
If one looks at the process of aging on the biochemical level within the cells the final common pathway for all the effects of stress is an excess of free radicals - highly reactive chemicals - which damage the DNA and other important structures in the cell. DNA is the blueprint for everything in our bodies. When the blueprint is damaged the cell cannot function properly. The result is what we call "aging". When we are young we produce an abundance of hormones-chemical messengers that are involved in many diverse processes throughout the body including the vitally important functions of maintenance and repair of the damage caused by free radicals. Up until our early 30's there is a dynamic balance between stress related damage and repair. This balance of opposing forces is crucial if we are to grow and develop. As we age one change that occurs is our body's hormone production declines. This results in an imbalance in the stress vs. repair dynamic leading to the restorative functions being overwhelmed by the stress related damage. The result is destruction wins out over construction and we physically and mentally decline.
Modern medicine, though, has shown us that this does not have to be our fate. Just as diabetics have been able to live long, active lives due to the introduction of insulin our patients have reaped the benefits of cutting edge science in their lives. By supplementing hormonal and nutritional deficiencies, by routinely exercising their minds and bodies and by engaging in stress reduction techniques we have found that our patients are able to live a more vigorous, more satisfying life.
Indeed, we consider our program preventive medicine for the 21st century.
