Literature Review

Mitchell Walden
Lisa Cook
English Composition ll
October 24, 2021
Literature Review
Why do we age? Even though it is a natural part of life there are still many questions
around aging like, how do we age? And, when we age, why do certain illnesses and disease? In
this research, I will find out the theories and scientific proof of why we age and why the things
happen to us when we age.
Throughout the years, the life expectancy of a human being is rising. But why is that?
The biggest reason seems is our medical advances to treat the illnesses and disease that come
with aging. Also, scientist have been able to research what keeps our bodies healthier and the
things that can harm it.
While going through these sources, they all mention cells and how they cause aging.
Let’s start with telomeres. Telomeres are caps on chromosomes and when chromosomes
divide/replicate, the telomeres get shorter which is related to aging. Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell
though, has investigated that more and has found that there is a possible way to reverse or
stop the shortening of telomeres but there hasn’t been a way to preform a way to do so but
knowing that it is possible means that there is more to aging than short telomeres. There is a
lot more on aging on a cellular level, but telomeres were the most prevalent in the sources, so I
wanted this to be the first cellular related theory.
Next is something we can’t control that is related to aging, your genes. The Genetic
theory of aging, telomeres are a part of this theory, but we already went over that because the
rest of these theories don’t have that much proof to back them up. The first theory is
Programmed senescence theory. Cellular senescence occurs when cells stop dividing and
growing, but don’t die. This theory suggests that this causes aging. The next theory is Stem cell
theory. Stem cells can turn into other cells, which helps repair tissue and organs. But the
function of stem cells declines over time, potentially contributing to aging. The third and the
least investigated theory, longevity gene theory. This is the idea that certain genes extend
lifespan. More research is necessary. These theories from healthline all support intrinsic aging,
a genetically predetermined process that occurs naturally compared to extrinsic aging.
Extrinsic aging is a result of outside factors that happens to a person or what they do to
cause aging. These factors can consist of air pollution, smoking, alcohol, malnutrition, and UV
rays. These factors increase our aging process because these factors can damage our cells. For
example, UV rays, when directly exposed to the skin, can cause the cells to be damaged making
you look older or premature aging. Your diet can also affect your aging because according to
Miguel Lopez, diet, or derivatives of metabolism, exert a series of injuries on macromolecules,
cells, and tissues, but do not directly affect DNA nucleotides sequence, but it can modify
secondary DNA structure.

The last big research area for aging is the combination of the last two theories of
genetics and the environment. The mixed theory of aging proposes that genes and environment
interact to induce aging. Thus, aging is neither an entirely stochastic process nor an exclusively
gene background dependent process, but it is subject to extensive regulation by an elaborated
signaling network. This network can integrate a variety of aging-regulatory stimuli, like fertility,
nutrient availability, or diverse stresses, and relay them via signaling cascades into gene
regulatory events - mostly of genes that confer stress resistance and thus help protect from
damage accumulation and homeostasis loss. Therefore, each organism has a certain genetic
predisposition to ageing, which can be modulated by the action of exogenous agents or
products of its own metabolism. This theory conciliates both the genetic and environmental
theories of aging.
There is so many more factors and theories about aging but the ones that I have
explained are talked about the most throughout the sources. There are so many ways a body
could age and there are plenty of theories to slow down aging. With the surveys done by S. M.
S. Samarakoon, H M Chandola, and B. Ravishankar there are plenty of factors and answers
when it comes to figuring out why we age with the things you can control and the things you
cannot.
Work Cited
Lopez-Novoa. “WHY DO WE AGE? THEORIES AND PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES”. May 1 2018,
Issue 2, p1-6. 6p. Electronic Journal of Biomedicine.
Nunes, Kristen. “Why Do We Get Old?” Healthline, March 23, 2021.
https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-age#theories accessed October 24,
2021
Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell. “Why Do We Age?” Answers in Genesis, November 1, 2018
https://answersingenesis.org/suffering/why-do-we-age/ accessed on October 24, 2021
Jackson, Harry Jr. “How well you age can depend on you”. St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO). August
13, 2009
S. M. S. Samarakoon, et al. “Effect of dietary, social, and lifestyle determinants of accelerated
aging and its common clinical presentation: A survey study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3326874/

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Mitchell Walden

October 24, 2021

happen to us when we age.

things that can harm it.

wanted this to be the first cellular related theory.

a genetically predetermined process that occurs naturally compared to extrinsic aging.

Miguel Lopez, diet, or derivatives of metabolism, exert a series of injuries on macromolecules,

secondary DNA structure.

gene background dependent process, but it is subject to extensive regulation by an elaborated

predisposition to ageing, which can be modulated by the action of exogenous agents or

Lopez-Novoa. “WHY DO WE AGE? THEORIES AND PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES”. May 1 2018,

Issue 2, p1-6. 6p. Electronic Journal of Biomedicine.

Nunes, Kristen. “Why Do We Get Old?” Healthline, March 23, 2021.

https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-age#theories accessed October 24,

Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell. “Why Do We Age?” Answers in Genesis, November 1, 2018

https://answersingenesis.org/suffering/why-do-we-age/ accessed on October 24, 2021

S. M. S. Samarakoon, et al. “Effect of dietary, social, and lifestyle determinants of accelerated

aging and its common clinical presentation: A survey study

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