Accelerated Aging

Accelerated Aging is excessive breakdown of all structural tissues of the body including muscle, bone, sking and brain.  Unlike the normal aging process, it causes all the functions of your body to age too quickly.  Symptoms like an increasing waistline and a decrease in muscle size and tone are often the first signs. A low libido is common, and you’ll notice your skin looks dull or saggy. Your energy level decreases, and you may feel tired and run down much of the time. You aren’t able to keep up with things the way you used to. In addition, your memory becomes foggy and your cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels go up. Simply put--you feel old before your time!

What Causes Accelerated Aging?

 

Symptoms of accelerated aging can mimic symptoms of other diseases or conditions. Be sure talk with your physician about troubling symptoms to rule out other underlying issues. In order to prevent and reverse the symptoms of accelerated aging, we need to understand the causes:

 

  • Oxidative stress

    Oxidative stress results from our body’s natural energy production process. When your body creates energy, it also creates waste that we call “free radicals”, which damage cells. In addition to the free radicals your body produces, you’re also exposed to free radicals from other sources, such as pesticides, drugs, household cleaners, pollutants, paint and exhaust fumes, smog, tobacco smoke, and heavy metals (like lead, mercury and cadmium). Every day, each cell in your body takes up to 100,000 attacks from free radicals, resulting in damage to your cells. These free radicals attack the outer walls of your cells and also attack your DNA.  They cause mutations in the cell that may transform a normal cell into one that is cancerous.

  • Excess Cortisol: 

    Excess cortisol is a key cause of accelerated aging.  Simply put, excess cortisol is caused by stressors, experienced regularly over a prolonged period of time. Cortisol specifically
    1) inhibits osteoblast activity, or bone building
    2) decreases mineral absorption in the gut, so you won’t be absorbing the calcium and magnesium you need to build bone
    3) increases renal [kidney] tubule spilling of calcium. Calcium supplementation and alendronate-type drugs used to inhibit bone resorption, such as Fosamax, will always fight a losing battle to high cortisol 
    4) causes the tissues to no longer respond to thyroid hormone signals

 

  • Sedentary Lifestyle:

According to ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2008) — “Individuals who are physically active during their leisure time appear to be biologically younger than those with sedentary lifestyles, according to a report in the January 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

 

Regular exercisers have lower rates of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, obesity and osteoporosis, according to background information in the article. "A sedentary lifestyle increases the propensity to aging-related disease and premature death," the authors write. "Inactivity may diminish life expectancy not only by predisposing to aging-related diseases but also because it may influence the aging process itself."  Sedentary lifestyle increases the biological age well beyond the actual age of the individual.

 

 

Improper Diet:

 

Diet and proper nutrition have a huge impact on our body’s ability to fight off free radicals.  The anti-oxidants found in a large variety of foods can support your body and provide valuable protection.  According to Lisa Turner in “Better Nutrition” Newsletter, Jan. 2002, the Top Ten Anti-Oxidant Foods are:

 

1.      Berries

2.      Broccoli

3.      Tomatoes

4.      Red Grapes

5.      Garlic

6.      Spinach

7.      Tea

8.      Carrots

9.      Soy

10.  Whole Grains

 

Studies have also shown that applying antioxidant nutrients to the skin can also be helpful with both skin cancer and skin aging. Not only will antioxidant nutrients help fight free radicals, they also help protect and reverse the aging effects cause from environmental aging. Look for anti-oxidant-rich products formulated without mineral oils, animal by-products, ph balanced and botanically based. 

 

Hormone Imbalance:

 

The delicate balance of the hormones in our bodies play a large part in either slowing down the aging process or speeding it up, as in accelerated aging.  Many of the roles hormones play in maintaining our health invole protecting our body from free radicals, abnormal cell growth, and premature aging.  When hormones are out of balance--especially-estrogen and progesterone-the body is vulnerable to attack.  Bio-identical progesterone and/or estrogen creams bring balance back to the body and support its innate ability to protect and heal itself the way nature intended.