Years ago I heard an interesting theory: We replace every cell in our body over the course of 7 years. I’m a learned skeptic as I’ve learned to challenge a great deal of what people tell me. I look for fact to support claims and the facts I’ve observed and research do not support claims. For example, if people replace cells every 7 years then why do we age at all? In truth some of the effects of aging can be medically diagnosed as mitochondrial dysfunction. Over the years our mitochondria become damaged (through means I don’t understand but to equate to the wear on a tire). This trend could therefore be reversed (or slowed) through the process of mitochondrial biogenesis, or the creation of new (undamaged) mitochondria. I’m not a scientist, so I don’t know precisely how to make that work, but knowing this did trigger a theoretical understanding of 7 year myth. Not all of our cells rejuvenate after a 7 year stretch. Some don’t get right at all, and that is where the problems start.
Cells in different parts of the body have differing rates of rejuvenation. This replacement rate generally varies between 7-10 years. As such the cells of a human body are usually never older than age 10. Still, nobody I know is pulling a Benjamin Button, so something has to be missing. That missing link is in what parts of the body rejuvenate, in what way, and where that programming comes from. To begin, brain cells are constantly depreciating in the same fashion as a CPU. The neurons are not replaced and once lost are lost forever. The brain may be unconsciously responsible for sending out the instructions of cellular reproduction and we all know what happens when you get bad instructions. Likewise other cells, such as heart cells, see their replacement rates slow over time. As we age, those cells cannot replace at the rate they once did.
It isn’t a complete picture of he aging process, but a long-angle snapshot meant to shine some light on why we are all going south. It can also be a piece of the solution. Most of us will have a majority of new cells in 7 years. How nice would it be if we could program those new cells to behave as we did when we were 18?
Some Thoughts:
- Post 1461 will mark year 4. Yep, thats coming.