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Books > Medicine > Pre-clinical medicine: basic sciences > Human reproduction, growth & development > Human growth & development > Maturation & ageing
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The Clock of Ages - Why We Age, How We Age, Winding Back the Clock (Paperback, Revised)
Loot Price: R1,383
Discovery Miles 13 830
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The Clock of Ages - Why We Age, How We Age, Winding Back the Clock (Paperback, Revised)
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Aging is a universal human experience, yet even now a poorly
understood one; Medina's book is an accessible summary of what we
know. Medina (Bioengineering/Univ. of Washington) begins with a
brief description of his own mother's life and last days, which
inspired him to investigate the aging process. The text then turns
to a discussion of the biological meaning of aging and death. A key
point is that death is not the simultaneous failure of an entire
organism; it is the failure of some key component, such as the
heart or lungs, that brings about the end. Medina thus devotes the
middle portion of the book to an examination of how each system of
the body changes with age. The skin wrinkles, the bones weaken, the
lungs lose their capacity to oxygenate blood. But the processes do
not proceed at the same pace; half the nerve cells in the occipital
cortex will die before a human reaches old age, but almost all
those in the thalamus will survive. Vision and hearing deteriorate,
but taste buds actually regenerate. Each chapter is introduced with
a brief biography of a person whose death in some way illuminates
the system under discussion and adds human interest: Goya for the
brain, Elizabeth Barrett Browning for the heart, Casanova for the
reproductive system. Finally, Medina looks at aging from the
biochemical perspective. One theory suggests that aging is a result
of cumulative errors in the reproduction of an organism's cells;
another, that it is programmed into the genes and promoted by toxic
waste products of metabolism. (There is good evidence for both.)
Finally, strategies to combat aging are discussed: exercise, a
moderated diet, the replacement of certain hormones that decrease
with age. While no one has discovered a way to prevent aging and
death, Medina ably brings together what we know about these
inevitable processes and provides insight into possible avenues of
future research. (Kirkus Reviews)
A few gray hairs and a couple of wrinkles are often the first visible signs of aging on our bodies. For most of us, however, aging remains largely a mystery. We can only wonder why we have to age and what casualty of age hovers nearby. Written in everyday language, The Clock of Ages takes us on a tour of the aging human body--all from a research scientist's point of view. From the deliberate creation of organisms that live three times their natural span to the isolation of genes that may allow humans to do the same, The Clock of Ages also examines the latest discoveries in geriatric genetics. Sprinkled throughout the pages are descriptions of the aging of many historical figures, such as Florence Nightingale, Jane Austen, Billy the Kid, Napoleon, and Casanova. These stories underscore the common bond of senescence that unites us all. The Clock of Ages tells us why.
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