What is individual ageing?
Ageing is defined as a biological process which involves a number of structural and functional changes that appear over time and are not a result of illnesses or accidents.
When does it begin?
At birth?
Some specialists believe that ageing begins at the very moment of birth (or at conception)dssnet when the biological clock programmed by the genetic make-up of each species starts ticking.
When we’re 26 years old?
Other specialists who consider purely physiological aspects suggest that ageing starts when we are about 26 years old, when the reproductive potential in both men and women starts to decline.
When we’re 50 years old?
Gerontologists tend to state that said process might begin when we’re about 50 years old. When we retire?
When we retire?
In the socio-political context, 1919 was the year when the retirement age in Spain was first set at 65 years old. Over time, this leads to a convergence between retirement age and the onset of old age.
All
answers
are correct!
The differences are the ones set by us, citizens, scientists, politicians, etc. when we refer to ageing as processes of a different order.
Did you know that ageing might start with the embryo?
One study conducted by an international team led by the University of Cambridge measured the length of telomeres in blood vessels of adult laboratory rats born from mothers who were, or were not, fed antioxidants during normal or complicated pregnancies.
A equipa descobriu que os ratos adultos nascidos de mães que tinham menos oxigénio durante a gravidez tinham telómeros mais curtos que os ratos nascidos depois de gravidezes sem complicações. Isto poderia indicar que as pessoas começam a envelhecer até mesmo antes do nascimento. Os telómeros são as capas ao final de cada cadeia de ADN que protegem os nossos cromossomas, como as pontas de plástico dos atacadores dos sapatos, e uma parte essencial das células humanas que afeta a idade das nossas células.
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