Aging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Aging - Essay Example The questions have been in the mind of people for a century. However, despite the studies in the genetics and molecular biology, the mystery of controlling the lifespan of human is yet to be found (Nouwen & Gaffney, 2004). Many literatures have been put forward to explain the aging process, but none of them has been a success. The conventional aging literature believes that aging in not a genetically programmed. Modern theories in biological aging in humans can either be an error theory or a programmed theory. The programmed literatures believe that aging comes with a biological timetable, perhaps the continuous one in regulating the childhood development and growth. The regulation will depend on the expression of genes affecting systems that are responsible for defense response, maintenance, and repair. The damage theory emphasizes the assault of environment to the living organisms inducing the cumulative damage at different stages as the reason for aging (Cox, 2005). The programmed literature has three different categories; programmed longevity, endocrine theory, and immunology theory. According to programmed longevity, aging arises from sequential putting on and off for some of the genes. According to endocrine theory, the immune system can be programmed to decline with time, which arises to a rising vulnerability to diseases that are infectious and therefore aging and later death. It is researched that the immune system effectiveness peaks during puberty and slowly declines with the age advance. For instance, when a person grows older, the antibodies will lose effectiveness, and very few diseases will be combated by the body effectively, which leads to eventual death and cellular stress. The deregulated response of the immune has been connected to inflammation, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Although direct relationship is yet to