Health is a unity and harmony within the mind, body and spirit which is unique to each person, and is as defined by that person. The level of wellness or health is, in part, determined by the ability to deal with and defend against stress. Health is determined by physiological, psychological, socio-cultural, spiritual, and developmental stage variables.

New light on aging process

Aging :: New light on aging process

Scientists in Hong Kong have shed new light on why cell repair is less efficient in older people after a breakthrough discovery on premature aging, a rare genetic disease that affects one in four million babies.

Premature aging, or Hutchison-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (progeria), is obvious in the appearance of a child before it is a year old. Although their mental faculties are normal, they stop growing, lose body fat and suffer from wrinkled skin and hair loss.

Like old people, they suffer stiff joints and a buildup of plaque in arteries which can lead to heart disease and stroke. Most die of cardiovascular diseases before they are 20.

In 2003, a team of scientists in the United States found that progeria was caused by mutation in a protein called Lamin A, which lines the nucleus in human cells.

A team at the University of Hong Kong, led by Zhou Zhongjun, took the research a step further in 2004 and found that mutated Lamin A actually disrupted the repair process in cells, thus resulting in accelerated aging.

The study was published in the July issue of the Nature Medicine journal.

Zhou said the team came by their findings after comparing skin cells taken from two progeria sufferers, normal humans, progeria mice and normal mice.

While damaged DNA was quickly repaired in the healthy human and mice cell samples, the samples taken from the progeria humans and mice had difficulty repairing damaged DNA.

The study highlights the importance of Lamin A to the repair process, and any mutation to Lamin A that disrupts repair will bring about aging, Zhou said.

Having established the link between Lamin A and repair, Zhou is using major findings from other research he did in 2002 to work on his next project, a product which he hopes could kill cancer cells.

Recently posted related articles on Aging :

1. Heart :: Aging heart changes shape, shrinks and loses pumping function too
2. Aging :: AFAR/Ellison Medical Foundation increase commitment to scientists studying aging
3. Aging :: Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting on Population Ageing Opens in Macao
4. Heart Disease :: Depression, aging, and proteins made by a virus may all play role in heart disease
5. Aging :: CU-Boulder worm study sheds light on human aging, inherited diseases
6. Aging :: Staying sharp in Washington, D.C.
7. Aging :: Sirtris & Harvard discover new mechanism to slow aging
8. Aging :: Researchers find connection between caloric restriction and longevity
9. Immunity :: Hunger hormone fights aging in the thymus
10. Aging :: New study examines memory, learning and aging