Why does your body hurt as you get older?

Answer 1

Your body ages because the cells in your body are deteriorating as you grow older.

Oxygen is essential for life, but it's also inherently dangerous, because it results in free radicals. The same process that causes a cut apple to turn brown or iron to rust is the cause of all chronic degenerative diseases and even the aging process itself, including wrinkles, sagging skin, and age spots. This aging of the skin is an outward manifestation of oxidative damage or oxidative stress, which is occurring within every cell in your body.

Your immune system can also make free radicals to destroy pathogens. Some other things that can make free radicals in your cells include ultraviolet light (which is why people who spend too much time in the sun are more likely to get skin cancer and cataracts) and toxins such as tobacco smoke, air pollution, herbicides, and pesticides. While your body can neutralize some free radicals, all these stressors combined can be more than your body can handle, resulting in damage to your cells. On average, every cell in your body comes under attack from a free radical once every ten seconds. This damage tends to accumulate with age.

Every cell contains an enormous set of molecules called DNA which provide chemical instructions for a cell to function. This DNA is found in the nucleus of the cell, which serves as the "command center" of the cell, as well as in the mitochondria. The primary site of free radical damage is the DNA found in the mitochondria. Mitochondria are the energy factories of the cell: small membrane-enclosed regions of a cell that produce the chemicals a cell uses for energy. The cell automatically fixes much of the damage done to nuclear DNA. However, the DNA in the mitochondria cannot be as easily fixed. Extensive DNA damage accumulates over time and shuts down mitochondria, causing the cells to die and the organism to age.

In ideal conditions, your body can handle a certain number of free radicals by using antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals by giving them one of their own electrons. The antioxidant molecules don't become free radicals themselves by losing an electron because they are stable in either form (oxidized or reduced). They act as scavengers, helping to prevent cell and tissue damage that could lead to disease. Your cells produce the antioxidant enzymes glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and some others which neutralize free radicals naturally in the cell, but due to oxidative stress, your body may not be able to produce enough of these enzymes, especially as you age.

Every human body is made up of cells. These cells are constantly dividing. In each of your cells there are things called chromosomes, which carry all of your genetic information. Every time a cell divides (undergoes mitosis) these chromosomes have to replicate and split. Every time a chromosome is replicated and split, caps on the end of the chromosomes called telomeresget shorter and shorter, and eventually diminish altogether, causing the chromosome to fray, and ultimately leads to cell death.

We all have a predetermined age. Some of us could live to 100, others could live to 72. We can all max out our predetermined age by living healthy lifestyles - being free of stress, sleeping enough, eating healthily, and exercising. We can also shorten our lifespan by leading unhealthy lifestyles - not sleeping enough, poor diet, little/no exercise, high stress levels, substance abuse.

Answer 2

Arthritis