In general, from 30 to 45 years old, we are in possession of all our physical and cognitive means. But we still have many years to live: according to INSEE figures from March 2021, in France, life expectancy now exceeds 85 years for women and 79 years for men. Hence the need to maintain the “youth” of our body and mind for as long as possible. This, not only to remain “beautiful” and “strong”, but also to stay healthy, age increasing the risk of cancers and chronic diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer’s disease… ), etc
We can play on the physiological age
Impossible, of course, to reverse the hourglass of “chronological age”, inscribed on our identity card. On the other hand, emphasizes Dr. Christophe de Jaeger, physiologist, “it is different with” physiological age “, linked to the degree of real wear and tear of our internal organs”.
In a study published in 2015 in the American scientific journal Pnas, which analyzed the organs of 954 New Zealanders, it appeared that if all had the same chronological age (38 years), the physiological age of some were under 30, while others were over 45! However, compared to the first, the second “were less physically fit, presented a cognitive decline, declared themselves to be in poorer health and appeared older” specify the authors.
Food, tobacco, alcohol: excesses to avoid
Admittedly, there is a certain genetic injustice, some naturally resisting better to the passage of time. But “also and above all counts the lifestyle in adulthood”, assures Professor Karl-Heinz Krause, specialist in aging. Food, tobacco, alcohol, physical activity, sleep: all these everyday factors weigh heavily in the balance and can therefore slow down aging or, on the contrary, accelerate it.
The explanation? Physiological age depends in particular on the length of our telomeres, these repeated DNA sequences at the end of the chromosomes, which preserve the integrity of our genome, and whose size gradually decreases with age: “the shorter our telomeres , the greater the risk of altering the function of our cells and tissues,” explains Éric Gilson, professor of cell biology. However, “the lifestyle factors mentioned above all contribute to accelerating telomere erosion.”
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