While it is possible to reduce the risk of age-related diseases and mask the signs of aging, it is impossible to become younger and younger. Nowadays, there is no other way to rejuvenate other than achieving the impossible by replacing all cells, tissues and organs in the body. There is extensive information about anti-aging treatment in the media and on websites. Geriatricians do not support such applications in humans without controlled studies. When we look at the past, we can see that the opposite approach led to very bad results. Treatments that are highly beneficial in animals can cause serious toxicities in humans. Physicians have important duties in presenting the positive and negative aspects of anti-aging treatment to people. Rather than trying to stop aging, the person's quality of life should be increased, and more emphasis should be placed on lifestyle changes and people's education on this subject.
Aging is a process that is regulated by a genetic program and affects the organism through environmental factors. It is the sum of events that lead to death due to structural and functional changes that occur under the influence of factors. Aging can be classified as chronological (according to date of birth), biological (with anatomical and physiological changes), economic, social (role of the elderly in life), psychological, and pathological aging subtypes. While the science of aging is defined as gerontology, the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of health problems of the elderly is geriatrics. Primary aging; It is the deterioration in structure and functions due to the aging process. Secondary aging is aging that occurs due to the effects of diseases and environmental factors. Slowing primary aging provides an increase in maximum life expectancy, and slowing down secondary aging provides an increase in average life expectancy.
While Ponce de Leon, the governor of Puerto Rico, took his place in history as the first famous person to search for the fountain of youth, he was able to find Florida instead. In 1933, after James Hilton explained the existence of a paradise called 'Shangri-la' where people never age, in his book "The Disappearing Horizon", dozens of expeditions were organized to the Himalayan Mountains to find this place. Nobel Prize-winning scientist Elie Metchnikoff explains the experiences of Bulgarians for a long time. He attributed this to eating yoghurt. This has created the anti-aging cult of eating yoghurt. As can be seen from the examples, efforts to reverse the aging process have been continuing since the beginning of human existence.
20. While half of the population died in their 50s at the beginning of the century, this figure increased to the eighties towards the end of the 20th century. This dramatic increase is attributed to developments such as easier food availability, introduction of antibiotics, vaccines, progress in pregnant care and birth process, advancement in surgical techniques, and improvement in working conditions. In the United States, Japan and many European countries, the age group of 100 years and above has begun to constitute the fastest growing age group.
The best way to prevent aging is hidden in the answers to the question of why we age in the first place. Considering that the goal is not just to live long but to have a healthy and quality life, the concept of anti-aging is popular, but active aging and healthy aging are considered more accurate definitions.
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