Aging is like beauty; you know it when you see it. But what is it really?
What is Longevity Medicine?
Aging has always been considered inevitable, unstoppable. Skin wrinkles, vision fails, backs ache, and energy wanes. As age progresses, so do the diseases associated with age: heart disease, cognitive decline, and frailty.
Is aging a disease? Is it truly unavoidable?
Up until very recently, aging has in fact been considered an unrelenting, normal process, intrinsically correlated with time and genetics.
Science has now evolved, however, as has our appreciation of what aging really is. And once we, as humans, begin to really understand a problem, we have historically been very ingenious and creative in solving these problems.
The Root of Aging
We now understand that the root of aging is cellular failure and that cells age for many specific reasons. Appreciating these reasons and addressing them directly allows us to decelerate the aging process and reduce the relative risk of age-related disease. For example, DNA changes over time because of epigenetic modification, loss of telomeres, and loss of nuclear arrangement. Mitochondria fail due to a lack of Nicotinamide Adenine DiNucleotide availability, excess production of free radicals, sirtuin 3 deficiency, and failure of the mitochondrial Permeability Transition Pore. Other categories include DNA repair and proteostasis failure, an elevated inflammatory state, loss of stem cell function, an increased number of senescent cells, and oxidative and glycation stress, among others.
The list of cell challenges is extensive; however, knowledge is power. Therefore, we are now capable of addressing most, if not all, of the roots of aging and therefore can decelerate any deterioration.
There are also innumerable modalities to address these challenges. From oral supplementation, medications, light therapies, cell-based products, and plasma exchange to gene therapy, we are able to improve healthspan, and, most likely, lifespan.
Join us on a new journey. We will guide you through the new and evolving longevity therapies to maximize your life experience.
If you are interested in scheduling a consult or learning more about Dr. Kaufmann, please contact us at cnash@kaufmannlongevity.com