Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Tuesday March 03 2020, @05:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the How-old-is-Betteridge? dept.

Is Aging a Disease?

Whether ageing can be cured or not, there are arguments for thinking about it like a disease. But there are major pitfalls, too.

The first depiction of humanity's obsession with curing death is The Epic of Gilgamesh—which, dating back to at least 1800 B.C., is also one of the first recorded works of literature, period. Centuries later, the ancient Roman playwright Terentius declared, "Old age itself is a sickness," and Cicero argued "we must struggle against [old age], as against a disease." In 450 B.C., Herodotus wrote about the fountain of youth, a restorative spring that reverses aging and inspired explorers such as Ponce de León. But what once was a mythical holy grail is now seemingly within tantalizing reach. As humans' understanding and knowledge of science and technology have increased, so too have our life spans.

[...] Maybe the ancients weren't wrong, and aging can be not only delayed but cured like a disease. Over the years, the movement to classify aging as a disease has gained momentum not only from longevity enthusiasts but also from scientists. In 1954, Robert M. Perlman published a paper in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society called "The Aging Syndrome" in which he called aging a "disease complex." Since then, others have jumped on board, including gerontologists frustrated by a lack of funding to study the aging process itself.

[...] However, labeling aging itself as a disease is both misleading and detrimental. Pathologizing a universal process makes it seem toxic. In our youth-obsessed society, ageism already runs rampant in Hollywood, the job market, and even presidential races. And calling aging a disease doesn't address critical questions about why we age in the first place. Instead of calling aging a disease, scientists should aim to identify and treat the underlying processes that cause aging and age-related cellular deterioration.

Medical understanding of that cellular deterioration began in 1962, when Leonard Hayflick, professor of anatomy at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, made fundamental breakthroughs to understanding aging: He discovered a limit to how many times typical human cells divide before they become senescent, or exhausted. Before then, scientists had assumed human cells were immortal. Hayflick also figured out that telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes and prevent them from fraying, much like plastic tips preserve the ends of shoelaces, shorten each time a cell divides. When the telomeres get short enough, a cell stops dividing.

[...] Many gerontologists distinguish between "health span" and "life span," the length of time someone enjoys relative good health versus the length of someone's life. Longevity while in poor health, pain, or with limitations that sap quality of life makes little sense. Fleming urges "regulators and public policy makers to embrace healthspan as an organizing focus for facilitating the development of medicine that target aging and chronic diseases." This shift would promote research on disease-causing processes, which could help us prevent more age-related diseases, not just manage them.

As gerontologists Sean Leng and Brian Kennedy put it, "Aging is the climate change of health care." The Population Reference Bureau predicts that 100 million Americans will be 65 or older by 2060. How will we care for this population? It's daunting to think about one's own aging, let alone the 16 percent of the world's population who will be seniors[sic] citizens by midcentury. A big-picture approach focused on the processes of aging—processes we share with nearly all living organisms—will put us on a path not only to longer lives but to healthier ones.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 03 2020, @10:18PM (5 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 03 2020, @10:18PM (#966192) Journal

    I do happen to find that passage informative.

    Here's another simple one regarding heaven and earth eventually passing away.

    Matt 5:18 [biblegateway.com]

    18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

    One thing I read out of that is that heaven and earth, at least the present, will disappear. The word "until" is used, rather than another word such as "unless". I just checked six English language translations (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NASB, HCSB, NASB). In 4 cases the word is "until" and in 2 cases "till".

    I also like verse 7 of that same chapter as one of my favorites.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday March 03 2020, @10:22PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 03 2020, @10:22PM (#966194) Journal

    Doh! Replace one of the NASB with NLT.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday March 03 2020, @11:28PM (1 child)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday March 03 2020, @11:28PM (#966215) Journal

    Heaven and earth AKA the system full reset. An end where defining end is problematic.

    "where does space end?" technically nowhere, you can only possibly envision a limit, but a point outside space has no position defined.
    "when does time end?" technically never, you can only possibly envision a limit, but a moment outside time has no place in the time axis defined.

    Which is mirrored in "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father". (NIV, while KJV does forget the son and say My father) a very interesting phrase.

    Going further OT it is a phrase that has been abused to show Jesus as different from God, because "the father knows ONLY"... except that Jesus didn't say "I don't know" he said "the father knows".

    --
    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 04 2020, @02:41PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 04 2020, @02:41PM (#966470) Journal

      "where does space end?" technically nowhere,

      I've considered several possibilities, for this present universe, nevermind the one to come.

      1. Space is curved and of fixed size. If you go in a straight line in any direction, you eventually, for some insane definition of eventually, end up at your starting point. Flatland helps make this idea easily understandable.

      2. Space is flat and of fixed size. There is a brick wall somewhere with a sign that says this is the end.

      3. Space is infinite size. This presents the interesting possibility that there are infinite copies of everything. If you look at the decimal expansion of PI, you can find a digit 5. Then another 5, then another and another. If you look for a pattern such as 59, you can find it, then another and another, etc. If you look for 597, you can find it, and again, etc. The more complex the pattern the further you have to look to find it. But I could find another keyboard exactly like the one I'm typing on, down to the finest detail. Less frequently occurring, I could find another entire office building like the one I am in.

      One thing that strikes me in Rev 21:1 is that the new Earth has no more sea. That implies that it really is new, or remodeled in some serious way. Also considering the dimensions of the holy city, the top of it would be not only in space, but way out in space. So maybe a new Earth is of significantly larger dimensions. But I don't care to go too far down the road of speculation where the text does not go.

      Which is mirrored in "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father".

      The biggest takeaway I get is that I don't know when. No person knows when. Whether or not the Son knows can lead to those endless and pointless debates or controversies.

      Going further OT it is a phrase that has been abused to show Jesus as different from God,

      When you interpret any single verse, it must also be considered in light of the other 31,101 verses. There are too many others that say Jesus and God are one. Yet Jesus was on Earth for a time, and prayed to the Father. If Jesus is a mediator between man and God, then it would seem to imply he is separate, in some sense, from God. So make of all that what you will. Its like the endless debate over Calvanism.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Dr Spin on Tuesday March 03 2020, @11:37PM (1 child)

    by Dr Spin (5239) on Tuesday March 03 2020, @11:37PM (#966222)

    he word "until" is used, rather than another word such as "unless". I just checked six English language translations

    So the truth is out: you did not read the original in Hebrew or Aramaic! (Or Greek).

    There is no way that Matthew spoke English - as you say, you read a translation. Anyone who speaks a different language will tell you, English is way more specific about time than any other known language. Most languages would not bother making this kind of distinction - and that is the educated speakers. In times where most people were illiterate you could not expect any kind of precision on this kind of issue, and most cultures simply would not make any distinction at all.

    And, as a Christian, you should be aware that Jesus made a big deal out of saying "never mind the small print - the big picture is the big deal!". His whole mission was to point out that what matters is love, not legal wrangles. In short, he was/is on the side of the 60's hippies, and against American bible belt preachers.

    --
    Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 04 2020, @02:54PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 04 2020, @02:54PM (#966474) Journal

      Yes, I admit it. I am at the mercy of translators. I do my best.

      You picked one verse, but I used others including from the old testament. Rev 21:1's "new heaven and new earth" doesn't mention time, and expressly states the old heaven and earth have passed away. Another one I cited, 2 Pet 3:11-13 also has pretty clear language. You have to consider any single verse, in light of the other 31,101 verses in the bible, and I did. But I am at the mercy of translators. So I look at multiple translations routinely.

      The big picture I get from what Jesus says is: Love God, and Love your Neighbor. Those two things, one relating to God and the other relating to people. A similar message about what God requires is also in the old testament.

      Mic 6:8 [biblegateway.com]

      8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
              And what does the Lord require of you?
      To act justly and to love mercy
              and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.