Treating visible age as a disease

| June 1, 2016

Cellular Senescence

If we understand the mechanisms of ageing we can take steps to minimise the effects that age has, not only on our general health, but visible health too. Of course this is far easier said than done. The lowest common denominator of ageing & visible age is the slow degradation of the living cells that make up our body. I.e. skin, organs, tissue etc. This process of cellular ageing is called cellular senescence and it describes the internal working of any given cell during reproduction and the slow decline of tissue function until the cell can no longer reproduce and it dies… ultimately causing age as we see it today.

An ongoing cycle

From the moment you are conceived in the womb your cells are dividing, replicating and growing – the unfortunate truth is that almost from the very second you are conceived you are ageing. By this we mean that with each and every cellular division, your cells age, show signs of reduced cellular function and some cells die even before you are born. This is the natural process of cellular senescence.

Cellular senescence affects each and every cell within the body. This slow dying of cells is 100% natural and in the skin for example is the primary reason for wrinkle development or sagging skin. It is simply the skin cells degrading from perfect replicas during cell division to a state of replication with abnormalities and eventually cellular death. It is no different in the heart, lungs or eyes for that matter. But that leads to the question: what if we could slow this degradation of cellular function during cell reproduction? Surely this would slow aging and if focused on the skin visible ageing too? The answer is categorically yes.

Preserving the Telomere

factors_in_agingThe Telomere is a segment of DNA at the end of our chromosomes.  It can be likened to the plastic retainer on the end of your shoelaces, as it essentially helps maintain order and stops other chromosomes from tangling. Without it, your cellular reproduction would be chaos. We have discovered that as we age the Telomere shortens until cellular death occurs. But we have also learned that the telomere is responsible for cell division lifespan. In other words, the telomere is responsible for cell division as long as there is sufficient length to promote it. When the telomere becomes too short to stimulate new cell division that cell dies and we age. Therefore we can deduce that as more of our cells lose their telomeres and go out of commission, without others to take their place, we will see natural age in the body. Which then leads to a more applicable question: how can one lengthen or at least slow the shortening of my telomeres?

  1. Reduce Stress – chronic stress is a known factor to hasten the shortening of the telomere. Personal relaxation time will help not only help you reduce stress but keep you young too.
  2. Get plenty of Exercise – apart from stress busting, recent studies have shown that individuals who undergo weekly exercise regimes have 75% longer telomere lengths than those who do no exercise at all.
  3. Increase your intake of Anti-Oxidants – save your telomeres from oxidative damage by following an anti-oxidant homecare regime. We can prescribe a perfect daily schedule that when combined with an eating plan will help reduce oxidative damage and keep you visibly younger.

Once you have begun your telomere regime we will be able to treat & reverse the visible age that has already occurred using traditional techniques including Botulinum toxin, dermal fillers, thread lifts & lasers. The joy of working with your aesthetic doctor through a process like this is that they will document your skin, improve specific anti-aging plans and continually slow the visible ageing process while correcting trouble areas… and this means a natural-looking result and healthy glowing skin.

Book your appointment with either Dr Clark or Dr Marks at SAI Sandton on 011 883 3116 or SAI Waterkloof on 012 460 7047 and see how minimal & continued visits to SAI will achieve your anti-ageing goals by applying the latest science to your treatment protocols.

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