Ageing? Wait a minute: you want to define ageing? C’mon, that’s obvious, isn’t it?
I just have to look at myself in the mirror after a rough year and it’s written all over my face… The sallow complexion, the wrinkles, the white hair(s), the rings around my eyes. And that’s just my face… My back and my knees also feel stiff.
So, ageing can be fairly visible and even perceptible. But is there more to it?
At epiAge,we like the nutshell definition proposed by the instigators of the “hallmarks of aging” concept (López-Otín et al., 2013): “Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of physiological integrity, leading to impaired function and increased vulnerability to death”.
We like this definition because it highlights ageing as a graphic 3-step process that you can compare to the trajectory of any machine. The parts in, say, your new toaster will slowly wear out. Your bread will eventually turn more often pale (or black) than golden (long) before the appliance completely breaks down.
But the most remarkable aspect of the definition is that it also hints at a preventative perspective. Indeed, we can already intervene to slow down the loss of physiological integrity before impaired function sets in, and long before we are vulnerable to death.
OK, so there’s more to ageing than my wrinkles and my stiff back. But could you be a bit more specific about the “loss of physiological integrity”?
Yes, we can! Follow us along the path to the “hallmarks of ageing” …
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Sources and further reading
López-Otín C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G. “The hallmarks of aging”. Cell. 2013 Jun 6;153(6):1194-217. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039. Online: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23746838/
“What is ageing?”, Max-Planck-Institute for Biology of Aging. Online: https://www.age.mpg.de/what-is-ageing
Illustration
pixabay & epiAge
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