Chronological aging is a single biggest risk factor to healthy living. It’s generally acknowledged that the older we get, the more likely we are to acquire a disease or become sick. Cancer, heart disease, dementia, infections all skyrocket as our years accumulate. This has been accepted as a relatively unalterable fact of life. Modern medicine has focused their energy on waiting for disease to occur, and then attempting to intervene to diminish its consequence. Although this is a noble and worthy goal, think of how much better it would be if our focus instead was on addressing the foundational elements of aging and disease itself in order to diminish the risk associated with the process of living.
The scientific research into the origins of aging and the cellular basis of disease is moving at a rapid pace. Interventions exist right now and they have the possibility of changing the way that we age and improve our health. Individuals who are doing their own research are starting to apply some of the scientific principles to their own health maintenance. There is a pressing need for access to treatments and technologies that can alter how we age. Unfortunately, our current medical system does not acknowledge aging as a treatable entity. In fact, the entire healthcare system is built around the disease model of intervention.
“Whack-a-mole” to futility
This has been described as the “Whack-a-Mole“ approach to healthcare. Wait for something bad to happen, and then jump on it with drugs, surgery and high-tech interventions. The analogy would be like waiting for a bridge to rot out until it’s about to collapse, and then moving emergently to attempt reinforcing it.
A typical cycle goes something like this. A patient goes about their annual physical noting a gradual decline in energy and vitality. These steps toward infirmity are acknowledged by the doctors, but the patient is reassured that it is “normal aging. “Vertical height reduces, muscle power decreases, ability to get out of a chair becomes diminished, energy declines. “Normal aging," reassure the doctors. Vision fades, hearing declines, memory becomes a week. “Normal age-associated memory decline," reassure the doctors.
A heart attack happens. “Age-associated atherosclerosis," reassure the doctors. Stents are placed, drugs are prescribed, but the underlying cause remains a mystery. You are in a pause moment waiting for the next crisis.
You report to your doctor that your memory seems impaired. Hard to recall names. Harder to remember small details. The work up and bloodwork is deemed to be normal. An MRI of the brain reveals some shrinkage of the brain tissue. Your doctor reassured you that this atrophy is “normal for your age." But is it inevitable that brains will shrink, memory will fade, and intellect will corrode? Why does this happen and what can be done to prevent it? Idly waiting as the brain fades is a sad option to pursue, especially when there is evidence of steps that can be taken to avoid the catastrophe of dementia.
Your height diminishes by 1 inch at your exam. A bone density study reveals thinning of your skeleton. “Normal for your age," you are reassured. Plans are made to do further monitoring. This is like watching the snow melt in the spring! You know what comes next, and there is nothing being done to stop it. At some point in the future perhaps you will trip on a curb, fall and break your hip. The consequence can be devastating. Nursing home, further deterioration, a shortened lifespan preceded by disability and loss of independence. The blame is laid on the tripping event when in reality this avoidable catastrophe began decades earlier.
Again, an analogy may serve to help us. A storm blows through the town. Many trees are dropped. The storm gets the blame, but if you look closely at those trees the majority of those that fell have corroded from the inside. The trees have degraded on a cellular level in a way that made them weak, but in a manner that was not readily visible.
So to, do we humans degrade on a cellular level that is not visible to the naked eye. The cellular deterioration is initially compensated in a way that we cannot perceive until a catastrophic event occurs. A trip leading to a fractured hip. A minor surgery leading to accelerated cognitive decline. A gradually degrading immune system opens the door to catastrophic infections.
At its core, aging is a cellular process. Over time, our cell's ability to healthfully divide becomes compromised. More good cells are dying, more bad cells are living. At the same time, our cells and our bodies are accumulating toxins. Many of these get stored in our body and build up slowly over time exposing us to a form of slow poisoning. Because the delay between exposure and consequence spans decades it goes unrecognized and becomes perceived as part of the normal aging process.
What if we could do things to restore cellular vitality and alter the course of their deterioration? What if we could reduce the toxic load that we absorb throughout the span of our lives? The opportunity currently exists to do both. The possibilities for improving quality and length of life are tantalizing.
Dr. Stephen Petteruti is a board-certified family physician specializing in functional medicine. His practice Intellectual Medicine 120 is in Warwick, Rhode Island.