Human ageing, longevity and evolution: can ageing be programmed?

Can ageing be beneficial?

Can ageing be slowed?

Redox metabolism has long been considered to play important roles in aging and the development of age-related diseases. Both dietary and pharmacological manipulations of redox metabolism have been associated with the extension of lifespan. Increasing new evidence s also suggests that the process of aging may derive from imperfect clearance of oxidatively damaged material. The accumulation of th...

Ageing and Urbanization: Can Cities be Designed to Foster Active Ageing?

The world is currently experiencing two major demographic transitions: the ageing of populations, particularly in low and middle income countries, and urbanization. This paper briefly summarizes current theories on how the urban environment may influence the health and quality of life of an older person, reviews epidemiologic studies that have investigated this relationship, and highlights urba...

Evolution and ageing.

Did senescence evolve as a direct result of natural selection in order to limit the life-span or did increases in longevity evolve in the face of random events that ordinarily limit the life-span? The adaptive hypothesis is that senescence is a programmed process which appeared in evolution because a limited life-span has selective advantages for certain species. Non-adaptive theorists hold tha...

Systems biology of ageing and longevity.

Ageing is intrinsically complex, being driven by multiple causal mechanisms. Each mechanism tends to be partially supported by data indicating that it has a role in the overall cellular and molecular pathways underlying the ageing process. However, the magnitude of this role is usually modest. The systems biology approach combines (i) data-driven modelling, often using the large volumes of data...