MarkSD

Hello everyone, One thing that is of great interest to me is why exactly it is that animals (including humans) age. After all, a species as a whole manages to survive for a large number of generations without significant mutation or chromosomal damage. So why is it that animals after they have been alive for a certain period of time experiance the symptoms associated with senescence? One theory that has been put forward to explain the conundrum of why we age, is known as The Evolutionary Theory of Ageing. This is how it works. The Evolutionary theory of ageing (developed by William Hamilton in association with several other researchers), is the classical theory of why humans live so long after their reproductive age is effectively over. The theory (as was previously discussed) proposes that animals generally die shortly after reproducing due to the fact that lingering for any longer would not lead to any greater numbers of surviving offspring – thought to be the only model for success evolutionarily speaking. For more on The Evolutionary Theory of Ageing, see the following link: http://URL REMOVED! AGAIN! Any thoughts? Mark

Hi there, An antioxidant is a chemical that prevents the oxidation of other chemicals. In biological systems, the normal processes of oxidation (plus a minor contribution from ionizing radiation) produce highly reactive free radicals. These can readily react with and damage other molecules: in some cases the body uses this to fight infection. In other cases, the damage may be to the body’s own cells. The presence of extremely easily oxidisable compounds in the system can “mop up” free radicals before they damage other essential molecules. Hope that that answers your question. Mark P.S - Sorry moderators about posting a link to my site on my previous two posts. The intention wasn't to spam

Hi It seems that over the last few years a large number of advances have been made in suspending and reviving organisms that have been clinically dead and temperature reduced (including many higher mammals). The research of Mark B. Roth and Todd Nystul being very good examples - see http://URL removed It seems however that cryonics (also known as suspended animation) is not treated by scientists as anything more than pseudo science. This results in a distinct lack of interest and funding in this area. Something that I think is a shame when one considers the vast benefits to medicine and to humanity that would be gained from being able to suspend a sick or dying human until technology advances enough to treat them. Mark

Hi everyone, Calorie restriction (CR) is the practice of limiting dietary energy intake in the hope that it will improve health and retard the processes associated with aging. Typically reducing an animal’s calorie intake by 30 to 40% of what is usual for that particular species, whilst maintaining a proper level of nutrition results in an increase in general vigour together with an increase in longevity. Note that this reduction in calorie intake includes a reduction in carbohydrate, fats and protein. This increase in life expectancy and general health for calorie restricted animals has been seen in a wide variety of experiments conducted in a number of organisms. These include rotifers, yeast, worms, spiders, fish, mice and rats. Experiments are currently being conducted with primates to see if restricting caloric intake increases life expectancy with these animals also. These experiments are already showing very positive results. For more detailed information on experiments conducted in caloric restriction, see: http://URL removed Mark