Your cells are like a house. The older you get, the more they leak.
If we compare the cell to a house, when it is young, it is tightly packed around, with clean windows, sheltered from the wind and rain, and also has its own "self-maintenance system".
However, over time, the roof began to leak, mold developed in the corners of the walls, and the doors and windows could not be closed properly.
The older you get, the more the house leaks, the more problems, repair can not be repaired, the cell is so a little bit of aging - that's right, aging is the cellular "house" into the process of dilapidation.
"The roof is leaking": cell membranes are starting to fail
The cell membrane is the outer wall of the cell, which is thick and flexible when young, and protects the internal structure of the cell, as well as determining what can and cannot get in.
But with age, the cell membrane gradually lose elasticity, become fragile, permeability increases, what mess can "leak" in.
For example, free radicals, they are like little hooligans, usually can not get in, but once the cell membrane breaks the hole, free radicals will rush in, the cell internal mess - protein oxidation, DNA damage, the gradual decline in cellular function, equivalent to the house wires began to short-circuit.
"Moldy walls": internal cellular debris cannot be cleaned up
When young, cells have a self-contained "garbage disposal system" called autophagy.
Normally, any bad protein or damaged mitochondria in the cell will be cleaned up by the autophagy system and thrown into the "cellular trash can".
But when you get older, the efficiency of the autophagy system begins to decline, and the bad stuff can't be cleaned up and piled up inside the cells, just like a room with moldy garbage piling up more and more, the internal environment of the cells is getting worse and worse, and the function naturally follows the degradation.
"'Leaky windows and doors': DNA's failure to fix things
The DNA of a cell is like the structural diagram of a house, usually it doesn't matter if it suffers a little damage, there are specialized workers (DNA repair enzymes) to repair it and make sure that everything works properly.
But as we age, the DNA repair enzymes become less efficient and can't repair the damage fast enough. What's broken can't be repaired, and gene expression starts to go awry, sometimes even turning cells into "renegades" - cancer cells.
It's like a house whose structural plan has gone fundamentally wrong, with an uneven roof, crooked corners, and increasing safety hazards.
"'Aging plumbing': insufficient mitochondrial power supply
Mitochondria are the "power plants" of the cell, responsible for providing energy ATP to maintain normal cellular function. When you are young, mitochondria are full of energy and have a steady supply of electricity.
However, in the cell "middle age", mitochondria began to age, power generation efficiency is greatly reduced, and even "leakage" out of free radicals, the cell made a mess.
Cells at this time, the energy supply is insufficient, what work can not be done - you feel that their energy deterioration, easy to get tired, is because the body's cells have been "power outage".
"'Fix it, tear it down': apoptosis
When a house is too dilapidated to live in, the final solution is to tear it down and rebuild it. Cells are the same, when it is aging to the extent that it can not be repaired, it will start the apoptosis program, obediently "self-destruction", so that new cells to fill the position.
However, there are problems with this mechanism.
When you are young, apoptosis is fast, bad cells are replaced immediately and efficiently; when you are old, apoptosis slows down, bad cells linger on, new cells can't make up for it, and the body functions like that broken house, collapsing completely.
How to make the "house" live longer
Cellular aging is inevitable, but you can do something to make this "house" live a little longer and leak a little slower:
- Antioxidant: Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, supplement vitamins C and E, so that free radicals do not mess with the destruction of cell membranes.
- Regular routine: go to bed by 11 p.m. to give your cells time to repair themselves.
- Moderate exercise: Exercise activates the autophagy mechanism and accelerates cellular waste removal.
- Dietary moderation: don't eat too much, too much energy can overwork the mitochondria and increase free radicals.
- A better state of mind: stress, cell secretion of inflammatory factors will "deteriorate" the structure of the house, accelerating aging.
Conclusion: the house repair is good or not, all depends on routine maintenance
Cellular aging, is a natural law, but not a day to collapse. When you are young, you squander more, the house will break down fast when you are old; when you are young, you take good care of it, and in your old age, the house can still live comfortably and securely.
To live a healthy life, the cell "house" repair, at least can live a little longer, a little more comfortable - after all, the demolition can never be repaired back!