Aging: Damage accumulation versus increasing mortality rate

Aging: damage accumulation versus increasing mortality rate.

If aging is understood as some process of damage accumulation, it does not necessarily lead to increasing mortality rate. Within the framework of a suggested generalization of the Strehler-Mildwan (1960) [B.L. Strehler, A.S. Mildvan (1960). General theory of mortality and aging, Science, 132, 14] model, we show that even for models with monotonically increasing degradation, the mortality rate c...

The aging brain: accumulation of DNA damage or neuron loss?

Age-related molecular and cellular alterations in the central nervous system are known to show selectivity for certain cell types and brain regions. Among them age-related accumulation of nuclear (n) DNA damage can lead to irreversible loss of genetic information content. In the present study on the aging mouse brain, we observed a substantial increase in the amount of nDNA single-strand breaks...

Aging, resting metabolic rate, and oxidative damage: results from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study.

BACKGROUND The aging process occurs at variable rates both among and within species and may be related to the variability in oxygen consumption and free radical production impacting oxidative stress. The current study was designed to test whether nonagenarians have a relatively low metabolic rate and whether it is associated with low levels of oxidative stress relative to age. METHODS Resting...

Dietary restriction of rodents decreases aging rate without affecting initial mortality rate -- a meta-analysis.

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in multiple species from various taxa. This effect can arise via two distinct but not mutually exclusive ways: a change in aging rate and/or vulnerability to the aging process (i.e. initial mortality rate). When DR affects vulnerability, this lowers mortality instantly, whereas a change in aging rate will gradually lower mortality risk over time. Unrave...

Is asthma mortality increasing?