The Effects of Aging

Aging is defined by conventional scientists as the process of growing old and approaching normal death. The process is accompanied by a gradual deterioration in biochemical and physiological funcions, such as the activity of enzymes, beginning at about age 35 and continuing at an increasing rate thereafter.
As we grow older these changes have been noted in our body :

• Blood pressure rises by about 15 percent between ages 30 and 65.
• Chlolesterol levels rise
• Blood levels of abnormal proteins increase. Of special significance is the rise in the rheumatoid factor, considered a cause of arthritic joint inflammation.
• By the age of seventy :
• Blood flow to the brain decreases by 20 percent.
• Kidney filtration rate decreases by 50 percent.
• Resting heart output decreases by 30 percent.
• Lung volume during exercise decreases by 47 percent.
• Oxygen uptake decreases by 60 percent
• Body water content decreases by 15 percent
• Basal metabolic rate decreases by 20 percent
• Brain weight decreases by 40 percent.
• Speed of blood equilibrium mechanism decreases by 83 percent.

• The average Man will lose up to 2.75 inches in height between 25 and 70; women will shrink up to 1.8 inches.
• Hair will lose about one-fifth of its thickness.
• The ear lobe lengthens
• Aging spots (liver spots) appear.
• The eyes become far-sighted.
• Bags form below the eyes.
• Cheek and jowl skin sags.
• The nose widens and lengthens.
• Lines form around the mouth and eyes
• Hair becomes gray and balding, mostly in men.
• Muscle coordination and reflexes decline by 25 to 35 percent.
• The skin loses some of its elasticity, especially if there is much exposure to the sun..

From this brief survey you can see how our body's function deteriorates with advancing age. What is omitted from this list is a decline in mental or cognitive function.

Physicians naturally assumed that since our brains shrank and lost millions of neurons (nerve cells) each year, decreased reasoning ability, memory loss, and impaired intelligence must result. Nerve sells cannot regenerate, and once lost, they are gone forever.

One medical reason for this retention of intelligence rests in the fact that our dendrites continue to grow throughout our life, up to advanced old age. Dendrites are the parts of our nervous system that function as contact points, allowing the neuron to send signals to its neighbors. By growing new dendrites, a neuron can open new channels of communication in every direction. This may account for the wisdom observed among the elderly.