Why does a person age? How to slow down the early aging of the body? The mystery of premature aging syndrome (3 photos) What is the name of the disease when a person ages early

Aging is a biological process of a gradual decrease or complete shutdown of the body's vital functions. Due to aging, the body adapts to the environment worse, the ability to regenerate tissues decreases, diseases and metabolic disorders are acquired. The external result of aging is muscle flabbiness, the appearance of wrinkles and gray hair.

What causes the body to age?

How soon these seventy times will happen in each of the cells depends on the body and metabolism, on your attitude towards your body. If you do not take care of your health, eat poorly and are exposed to harmful environmental factors, the cells of the body have to be updated more often, their resource is exhausted faster.

Let's look at them in more depth and find out effective methods to neutralize these causes of aging:

Inadequate production of melatonin.
Oxidation and death of cells.
Lack of psychic energy.
Waste of sexual enzymes.
Pollution of the body with slags and toxins.
Atmospheric pressure and gravity.
Violation of the function of DNA helices.
Excess "locked" water in the cells.
Insufficient muscle activity.
Lack of mental activity.
Deterioration of organ tissues and stress.

Let's take a quick look at the methods by which it becomes possible to eliminate these 11 factors of aging - the most important for maintaining your youth, beauty and health for years to come.

The first reason is "Inadequate production of melatonin"

The production of melatonin (the hormone of youth and circadian rhythms) is significantly reduced after 24 years and completely stops during daylight hours. It has been proven that melatonin begins to be actively produced by the pineal gland in conditions of absolute darkness and complete silence, provided that we are awake.

Overcoming the first cause of aging.

If you put yourself in conditions of absolute darkness and silence and at the same time stay awake, then your brain starts producing melatonin again, while returning your youth.

The second reason is "Oxidation and death of cells"

Oxidation and death of cells occurs due to the action of active oxygen locked in our tissues.

Overcoming the second cause of aging.

To stop the oxidation and death of body cells, it is necessary to pump out active oxygen or create a kind of vacuum in the body for a short period of time. This is achieved by a special exercise in which you exhale completely, expelling all the air from the lungs, and then completely hold your breath to a slight stress, when you no longer have enough air. At this moment, the body really wants to inhale and begins to suck out all the active oxygen from the cells, pumping it out and neutralizing the process of oxidation and cell death.

Reason three - "Lack of psychic energy"

At the time of birth, a person is given a certain amount of psychic energy, which is distributed throughout his life. Note that children are very energetic. In the process of life, a person wastes his original psychic energy. The less mental energy a person has, the older he looks. The one who squandered it completely dies, but the one who was able to save it remains young and healthy for many years.

Overcoming the third cause of aging.

The essence of the method is to return your wasted psychic energy. When the energy is fully returned, the person regains his youth. This effect is achieved by re-experiencing the scenario of one's entire life anew.

Reason Four - "Wasting Sexual Enzymes"

Our body is a powerful processing station, the purpose of which is the reproduction of tissues and the reproduction of offspring. To this end, our body absorbs food, then processes it and transforms it into the tissues of our body, blood, sexual enzymes and subtle psychic energy - ojas.

The male element is the white seed, predominantly composed of the element of water, the female element is the red seed, it is composed of the element of fire. Sexual enzymes are produced by the bone marrow and then seep through the pores in the bones. It is certainly not seminal fluid or vaginal fluid secreted by the female body in a state of arousal. This is seminal fluid that has been transmuted as a result of the subtle form of the fire element and turned into psychic energy.

Related to this is the need to conserve sexual energy and enzymes in the human body and turn it into ojas. It is ojas that gives a person beauty, attractiveness and eternal youth. The more ojas accumulated, the more attractive a person looks, he literally begins to glow with a special magnetic aura.

The vibrating Svadhishthana chakra causes a rush of blood to the genitals and then, under the influence of sexual desire, the seed begins to melt in those parts of the body where it is stored. Then, like water, it begins to descend, to flow from the higher regions to the lower ones.

As a result of ejaculation or orgasm, ojas is removed from an even distribution in the body. As a result of the downward movement of energy, ojas is wasted, causing movement and loss of sexual enzymes. Thus health, strength, beauty and youth are lost.

Overcoming the fourth cause of aging.

There is only one way out of this situation - the sexual tantric techniques of eternal youth and the conscious sublimation of sexual energy.

The fifth reason is "Pollution of the body with toxins and toxins"

A polluted environment, improper diet and lifestyle cause pollution or slagging of the whole organism. Different foods require different times for digestion, different juices. Eating as we have to, we accumulate in the large intestine undigested parts of the products that accumulate in the large intestine for decades.

At the age of 25, a person already wears from 8 to 25 kg. such stools. The system of the large intestine, which absorbs toxins, poisons our blood. You can't build new healthy cells from polluted blood, you can't regenerate old cells.

Thus, the whole human body becomes poisoned, sick and aging. Constantly replenished fecal warehouses turn the large intestine into a large container with waste, which displaces internal organs from natural places, compresses the diaphragm - the main muscle that ensures proper breathing and heart function, while the diaphragm is turned off from the breathing process.

The work of the lungs is sharply reduced, the liver and kidneys are displaced, the mobility of the small intestine decreases, troubles with the genitourinary system occur. The lower part of the rectum and the anus suffer - the compressed veins protrude with bloody knots. In other words, a constantly dirty colon is the source of many of our diseases.

Overcoming the fifth cause of aging.

To become a truly healthy person, it is necessary to remove all accumulated toxins from the body. The solution is simple - periodic cleansing of the body from all accumulated toxins.

Reason six - "Atmospheric pressure and gravity"

The vast ocean of air that surrounds the Earth and stretches upward for miles is pulled and held together by the force of gravity. Air has weight. And since air is all around us, it adds weight to any object it fills.

The weight of the air creates pressure. Air presses on your entire body from above. A huge mass of air presses very hard on the Earth, and the pressure at the same time is about one kilogram per square centimeter. A kilogram is the weight of a column of air with a base area of 1 square centimeter and a height equal to the height of the atmosphere.

And the air presses on your head with a force of 270 kilograms, but it does not flatten you, because there is air inside your body that balances the pressure of the outside air. The higher you climb (for example, to the top of a mountain), the less air above you, the less pressure.

But a person, like any other organism, does not feel this, since atmospheric pressure is balanced by internal pressure. That is why there is flabbiness of tissues and wrinkles. If you look at the old man, you will see that his whole body and face seem to have sagged. And this is normal, because about 10 tons of air pressed on him all his life.

Overcoming the sixth cause of aging.

The best way out of this situation is offered by the yoga system. Namely, the performance of various inverted yoga poses, or, to put it more simply, upside down stands, neutralizes this cause, reversing the aging process.

Reason seven - "Violation of the functions of DNA helices"

In total, a person has 12 strands of DNA. At the moment, for unknown reasons, we have as many as ten strands of DNA disabled. Scientists know about two spirals. The rest are in the DNA molecule, but in an inactive state. The active two spirals serve only the two lower chakras - the coccygeal and sexual, and respectively control the energies of survival and reproduction.

Overcoming the seventh cause of aging.

To activate all DNA strands, regain long life, amazing abilities and eternal youth, you need to go through the activation program of 10 inactive DNA strands.

Reason eight - "Extra locked water in the cells"

When excess unprocessed water is deposited in the cells and tissues of the body, edema occurs. Edema causes flabbiness of tissues, obesity and cellulite. When the body is polluted with salts, the outflow of excess stagnant water from the cells is not carried out. In this regard, there are many diseases and all sorts of problems that accelerate the process of wear and aging of tissues.

Overcoming the eighth cause of aging.

In order to remove excess water from the cells of the body, various methods are used. Diuretics, breath holding, short-term dry fasting, etc.

Reason nine - "Insufficient muscle activity"

What does not work, then dies - this is the principle of life. An insufficiently active lifestyle leads to sagging tissues, chronic fatigue, obesity, heart and respiratory diseases, muscle weakness and other problems that accelerate the aging process.

Overcoming the ninth cause of aging.

Hence the conclusion: you need to at least periodically move and train your muscles.

Reason ten - "Lack of mental activity"

When a person stops thinking, setting goals, gaining new knowledge, striving for something, having an interest in life, his brain begins to age, atrophy, and brain cells die off as unnecessary.

Overcoming the tenth cause of aging.

There is only one way out: no matter what, continue to learn, set goals, develop and engage in mental activity.

The eleventh reason - "Deterioration of organ tissues and stress"

Time passes, the organs and systems of the body wear out, like any material thing. Our body is like a machine in which every part has natural wear and tear. There is only one way out of this situation: to regenerate the tissues and organs of your body. Stress is another significant cause of aging. As a result of severe stress, a person can literally instantly sit and age for decades.

Overcoming the eleventh cause of aging.

Therefore, it is necessary to learn how to live in such a way that stress does not affect us. This is a great art that has been practiced in the East since ancient times and its name is meditation. To resist stress and restore your body, various types of meditation, relaxation and soothing herbal teas are used.

I wish you all health and longevity.

Progeria(Greek progērōs prematurely aged) is a pathological condition characterized by a complex of changes in the skin and internal organs caused by premature aging of the body. The main forms are children's progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome) and adult progeria (Werner's syndrome).

Childhood progeria is very rare. Etiology and pathogenesis are not known. In most cases, it occurs sporadically, in several families it has been registered with siblings, incl. from consanguineous marriages, which indicates the possibility of an autosomal recessive type of inheritance.

In the skin cells of patients, violations of DNA repair and fibroblast cloning were found, as well as atrophic changes in the epidermis and dermis, and the disappearance of subcutaneous tissue. Although children's P. may be congenital, in most patients, clinical signs usually appear in the 2nd-3rd year of life.

The growth of the child sharply slows down, atrophic changes in the dermis, subcutaneous tissue, especially on the face and limbs, are noted. The skin becomes thinner, becomes dry, wrinkled, there may be scleroderma-like lesions on the body, areas of hyperpigmentation. Veins show through the thinned skin. The appearance of the patient: a large head, frontal tubercles protrude over a small pointed ("bird") face with a beak-shaped nose, the lower jaw is underdeveloped.

Muscle atrophy, dystrophic processes in teeth, hair and nails are also observed; there are changes in the osteoarticular apparatus, myocardium, hypoplasia of the genital organs, impaired fat metabolism, clouding of the lens, atherosclerosis.

Lena ages five years in a year

Yesterday, in a Moscow clinic, doctors performed the first operation on a patient suffering from premature aging syndrome.

At first, my earlobes began to sag in a strange way. Then I noticed amazingly deep wrinkles between the eyebrows, - says the 23-year-old girl.

At the first glance at Lena Melnikova, you even begin to doubt. But how is this a cunning bored 40 - 50-year-old lady who desired wide fame and plastic surgery from the best surgeons ?! Unfortunately, this has already happened.

This is what she looks like now at 23.

Asking Lena about her personal life doesn’t even turn her tongue ... Although the girl smiles courageously:

Everything is fine.

Lena has almost no chance. Diagnosis: "premature aging syndrome" ("progeria"). Medical luminaries around the world claim that people live on average only 13 years from the moment of the disease. And no one knows how to restore youth or at least calm old age ...

Terrible symptoms began to appear in Lena five years ago. First, the face aged, and then the skin of the whole body. Elena then studied at the 1st year of the Mari Polytechnic Institute.

You know, how insulting it was... Guys come up to meet my girlfriend and treat me emphatically politely, they take me for my mother. Almost asked permission to meet with the "daughter".

After graduating from the Mari Polytechnic University, the girl decided on plastic surgery. But the banal circular tightening of the skin of the face did not help. Only left scars on the neck and temples. The mysterious process of aging of the organism continued. Local doctors could advise Elena only one thing - to take vitamins and be constantly monitored.

The girl - by the way, a certified engineer-architect - did not despair and went to Moscow. Melnikova became interested in the expensive metropolitan clinic of plastic surgery "Beauty Plaza". Its experts decided to help the provincial woman in trouble. And completely free.

We decided to try. If it is generally recognized that nothing can be done, then you should at least try, - said the leading surgeon of the clinic, Doctor of Medical Sciences Professor Alexander TEPLYASHIN, on the eve of the operation. - Although it is unsafe for Elena to operate, because the disease could also affect the state of internal organs.

She is so young! She needs to live normally, communicate with young people. First, we will make a face, and then we will begin to fight the disease at the genetic level, - Professor Teplyashin is determined.

“I really believe the professor,” Elena Melnikova persistently convinces us. It looks like she's also convincing herself.

Elena arrived at the clinic yesterday morning. She was being prepared for surgery. Allocated a separate room, where she waited. So far, Professor Teplyashin is also preparing for his very difficult work. A quarter of an hour before the operation, Elena is calm.

I'm not afraid of anything, - she repeats and repeats everything. And in the end it still sobs. Some time ago, the girl was seriously thinking about ending her life.

The time has come for the operation. Lena gets up and, looking straight ahead, walks with a deliberately firm gait into the bowels of the clinic. Suddenly, she pauses for a minute and turns clearly more to herself than to others: “I was very afraid of this first operation, and now I have a second one. And I have no choice. My last hope". - And resolutely steps to the anesthesiologist.

The doctors of the clinic allowed the photographer into the holy of holies - the operating room of aesthetic surgery. The first stage of the operation is the breast. The doctor cuts the skin on the chest and prepares a special bio-implant. The composition is one of the secrets of the clinic. The main thing - no alien silicone. Like dough, Professor Teplyashin vigorously kneads the implant so that the pliable material almost seeps between his fingers. And finally puts in the body. The second and main stage is the face. And the first difficulty here is to eliminate the scars and imperfections of the previous plastic surgery. The sight is not for the faint of heart. But everything seems to be going well...

After Lena Melnikova undergoes a special rehabilitation course at the clinic, geneticists and cell biologists will develop an individual biotechnological treatment program especially for her, which should end with an injection of stem cells. These cells are supposed to expel old age from a young body...

Once upon a time, a beautiful and smart 18-year-old student Melnikova had many fans. But when the disease began to develop, there was only one who really loves. The girl does not name him, but she is sure that he is very worried and is waiting for her in Yoshkar-Ola. In the meantime, in Moscow, the unemployed engineer-architect Melnikova lives with her brother.

For the first time, the syndrome of premature aging was discussed 100 years ago. And not surprisingly, such cases occur once in 4-8 million babies. Progeria (from the Greek pro - earlier, gerontos - old man) is an extremely rare genetic disease that accelerates the aging process by about 8-10 times.

Simply put, a child ages 10-15 years in one year. An eight-year-old looks 80 years old - with dry, wrinkled skin, a bald head ... These children usually die at the age of 13-14 after several heart attacks and strokes against the background of progressive atherosclerosis, cataracts, glaucoma, complete loss of teeth, etc. And only a few live to 20 years or longer.

Now only 42 cases of people with progeria are known in the world ... Of these, 14 people live in the United States, 5 in Russia, the rest in Europe ...

Among the features of such patients are dwarf growth, low weight (usually not exceeding 15-20 kg), excessively thin skin, poor joint mobility, an underdeveloped chin, a small face in comparison with the size of the head, which gives the person as if bird features. Due to the loss of subcutaneous fat, all vessels are visible. The voice is usually high. Mental development corresponds to age. And all these sick children are strikingly similar to each other.

12 year old Seth Cook looks like an 80 year old man. He has no hair, but he has a full range of diseases that affect older people. Therefore, every day the boy takes aspirin and other drugs that thin the blood. With a height of 3 feet (a little over a meter), Seth weighs 25 pounds (11.3 kg).

Oury Barnett was born on April 16, 1996. Already at the age of five, poor Ouri began to have coronary heart disease. Attacks followed one after another. The kid often ended up in the hospital, but he had to be treated with the means that are usually prescribed for older people.

Ouri looked like a stroke survivor: his legs were weak and he began to stumble like a decrepit old man. His eyes faded, his upper lip did not move, saliva flowed, his speech became unintelligible.

Ouri's mother did a lot to convey to people her experience and her observations of the unfortunate child. From the age of three, the baby was taken to the shooting of television programs and scientific conferences. The only condition that the mother set for sensational journalists was that they should not write that the baby was dying of progeria.

The most famous case of progeria described in the Russian press is the story of Alvydas Gudelauskas, who suddenly began to age at the age of 20. Literally in a matter of months, Alvidas turned into a 60-year-old man before our eyes. And only after plastic surgery did he begin to look like a mature man. In the photo on the left - this is how he looked before the operation, on the right - after. Now Alvydas is only 32 years old.

Until recently, doctors could not determine the cause of the disease. And only recently, American researchers discovered that only a single mutation is the cause of "childish old age" or Hutchinson-Gilford progeria.

According to the director of the National Institute for Genome Research Francis Collins (Francis Collins), who led the study, this disease is not hereditary. A point mutation - when only one nucleotide is changed in a DNA molecule - occurs anew in each patient. People suffering from progeria die mainly from precisely those ailments that are characteristic of old age. A mutated form of the LMNA gene has now been found to cause progeria.

Seven year old man and his family

Khan children. Rehena, Ali Hussein and Ikramul suffer from a rare disease. He is only seven years old, and he is already going bald. This is the most noticeable of the many symptoms of the disease that Ali Hussein Khan suffers from. He is still a boy, but he is already in middle age. This is progeria, an extremely rare disease that causes Ali's body to age prematurely.

Neither he nor his sister and brother - 19-year-old Rehena and 17-year-old Ikramul - have practically no chance of living to 25.

This disease greatly accelerates the development of children. However, it also causes other problems: in their mouth, for example, a second row of teeth appears, and the skin becomes very pale, almost transparent.

Such children get sick with what ordinary people suffer in old age. Last year, their sister Ravena, who also had progreria, died of pneumonia. She was 16.

As soon as Ali Hussein begins to speak, it becomes clear that he is seized with childlike enthusiasm and preoccupied with hopes that are not characteristic of an adult.

“I would like to be an actor, drive cars and planes, be an action hero,” he says. “And then I would like to become a doctor, because doctors check me all the time, and I would like to check myself, and therefore I wanted someday I would like to be a doctor."

Hana is unique in this sense: this is the only case known to science when more than one family member suffers from progreria. And thanks to this family, scientists were able to make a real breakthrough in understanding the nature of the disease.

Scientists led by pediatrician Chandan Chattopadhyaya observed the Khans for two years and concluded that the disease is hereditary and recessive. This means that her gene can be in both parents. In this case, Hana's husband and wife are cousins to each other. Neither of them has progreria, nor do their other two children, 14-year-old Sangita and two-year-old Gulavsa.

In recent years, the family has been looked after by a charitable organization from Calcutta. The head of the Bisul Khan family says that life has treated him and his wife Rajia cruelly. Both of them are natives of one of the villages in the Indian state of Bihar. The locals called their children aliens, and as a result they had to grow up in complete isolation.

“When we lived there, in Bihar, every evening we sat in a room, unable to sleep, because one of the children was tormented by something, then the other,” recalls Khan. “And we thought, me and my wife, we sat down side by side and thought: how can we continue to live? We even thought about putting an end to all this in one fell swoop ... "

“But now the children are living,” the father says. “They are energetic, they are happy, they live a normal life, as far as possible, of course.”

For the past two years, Khanami has been looked after by Sekhar Chattopadhyay, head of the S-bi Devi Charitable House in Calcutta. Now they live in this city, although their exact address is kept secret.

The charitable organization helped my father find a job as a security guard, but his salary is low, so they are also helped financially. But no less important than money are those normal human contacts that children have acquired with the help of a charitable organization.

"We support them and we've become friends," says Chattopadhyay, tossing Ali Hussein on his lap.

Thanks to his support, the Khans say they are now living much more fulfilling lives than ever before. They smile when they talk about their interests and hobbies.

Rehena says she loves Indian films, especially passionate love songs. When I ask if she sings herself, she says that she is shy, but it is still clear that she wants to demonstrate her abilities, and, having received approval, she agrees to try.

"I love loving you and when I don't see you, I can't wait until we meet again," she sings in Hindi.

According to various sources

07.01.2020

Before changing skin care, it is better to consult a specialist. Uncontrolled use of some funds can lead to serious consequences.

In any case, before starting any anti-aging therapy, be sure to consult with a specialist. This will help avoid negative consequences.

1. Premature Aging: Foods to Avoid

One can hardly argue with the statement that human health depends primarily on nutrition. We are what we eat.

Unfortunately, throughout life we acquire different habits, some of which are harmful to health and cause. This aspect is described in detail in the article "Aging and Antioxidants", published in 2012.

For example, an excess of sweets can contribute to the breakdown of collagen present in the skin. Alcoholic beverages have a direct effect on the liver, preventing the proper elimination of toxins. All this accelerates premature aging.

In addition, there are other foods that contain sulfites and can also accelerate aging. This category includes, for example, sausage, minced meat, fast food.

In addition, it is strongly it is recommended to reduce salt intake. For example, it is found in large quantities in french fries or salted nuts. Salt is an additive that should be consumed in moderation, with an overabundance it can be dangerous for the body.

2. Stress and anxiety

Problems that affect psychological health, if not properly treated, can have negative consequences. A situation of severe stress that does not receive proper treatment can be prolonged for months or years. If this is the case, the problem can be reflected in very serious changes in our body,

It has been proven that the bad emotions that we experience not only have a negative impact on health, causing various psychosomatic diseases. They also cause premature aging.

Prolonged stress, stretching for several months or years, causes serious changes in the body. Why is this happening? The answer to this question can be found in the article “Stress and disease. Psychoneuroimmunoendocrine approach”, published in 2010.

Due to an excess of cortisol, the stress hormone, the heart rate accelerates. This has a negative impact on the health of the nervous system, increases the risk of atherosclerosis.

In addition to cortisol, the body produces epinephrine, better known as adrenaline, during times of stress. It stimulates oxidative processes in the cells of the body, prevents the synthesis of nutrients, causes the appearance of fatty deposits on the walls of blood vessels.

Due to stress, the immune system also suffers. Be more attentive to your emotions and learn how to manage them properly.

3. Antioxidant deficiency

You may be deficient in antioxidant-rich foods. Often we do not attach due importance to this. And in vain, because antioxidant deficiency makes the body more vulnerable to free radical damage that damage cells.

To help myself Be sure to include the following foods in your diet:

Water with lemon juice on an empty stomach, kiwi, strawberries;
Melon;
oranges;
Brussels sprouts, carrots;
Spinach, kale, tomatoes, papaya;
Pumpkin, 1 cup of green or white tea every day;
Fatty fish twice a week.

4. The sun is one of the main enemies of your youth.

Of course, the sun is very important for health. Thanks to sunlight, in our body vitamin D is synthesized. On a sunny day, we wake up in a good mood, we are overwhelmed with energy.

But still, you need to be careful with the sun. Try not to spend too much time on the beach, avoid the dangerous midday sun and Always wear a good sunscreen.

For most women The sun's rays are the main factor that provokes premature aging.. As shown in the article "Solar Cosmetics: Premature Aging and Sun Protection" published in the journal Science and Virtual Health, the use of sunscreens is key in the fight against skin aging. Be careful!

5. The female body and calcium

This is an extremely rare genetic disease that accelerates the aging process by about 8-10 times. Simply put, a child ages 10-15 years in one year. Babies with progeria look normal for 6 to 12 months after birth. After that, they develop symptoms characteristic of old age: wrinkled skin, baldness, brittle bones and atherosclerosis. An eight-year-old child looks 80 years old - with dry wrinkled skin, a bald head ...

Progeria also causes other problems: in children, for example, a second row of teeth appears in the mouth, and the skin becomes very pale, almost transparent.

These children usually die at the age of 13 or 14 simply "of old age". More precisely, from those diseases that are characteristic of old age. For example, they can die from a banal heart attack. And, as a rule, after several heart attacks and strokes against the background of progressive atherosclerosis, cataracts, glaucoma, complete loss of teeth, etc. Only a few live to 20 years or longer. In the people this disease is called "dog old age".

Now in the world about 60 cases of people with progeria are known. Of these, 14 people live in the United States, 5 - in Russia, the rest in Europe.

Until recently, doctors could not determine the cause of the disease. And only recently, American researchers discovered that the cause of "childish old age" is a single mutation. Progeria is caused by a mutated form of the LMNA gene. According to the director of the National Institute for Genome Research Francis Collins (Francis Collins), who led the study, this disease is not hereditary. A point mutation - when only one nucleotide is changed in a DNA molecule - occurs anew in each patient. A genetic mutation in the lamin A protein causes accelerated aging of the body. And the young man - with his big protruding ears, bulging eyes and swollen veins on his bald skull - turns into a hundred and sixteen year old man.

Recently, some of these patients have a illusory hope for recovery. American scientists have begun a clinical trial of a remedy for Hudchinson's Gilford syndrome. If it is possible to bring the trials to a successful conclusion, the victory over progeria will be the victory of people who are doing everything to save their children from imminent death.

Researchers in their work came across a drug - an inhibitor of farnisyltransferase, it turned out to be able to block the production of this protein and, at least, stop the development of pathological processes, and even reverse them somewhat.

However, there is a problem in identifying such patients. They are few and scattered all over the world. The initiative group took on a huge job of finding them. Patients live in different countries, you need to get their consent, the consent of their parents. We should finally bring them, if such consent is obtained, to Boston (trials are taking place at the Children's Hospital of Boston (Children's Hospital Boston). And the life of such children is short. It is believed that the maximum age to which a patient with progeria can live is 27 years But even this is a rare case.

Hussein Khan and his family are unique in their kind: this is the only case known to science when more than one family member suffers from progeria. And thanks to this family, scientists were able to make a real breakthrough in understanding the nature of the disease. Hana's husband and wife are cousins to each other. None of them have progeria, and neither do their two children, 14-year-old Sangita and 2-year-old Gulavsa. This disease affects their 19-year-old daughter Rehena and two sons: 7-year-old Ali Hussein and 17-year-old Ikramul. None of them have any chance of surviving to 25.

Adult progeria is manifested in the following symptoms. Slow developing juvenile cataract. The skin of the feet, legs, to a lesser extent of the hands and forearms, as well as the face gradually becomes thinner, the subcutaneous base and muscles in these areas atrophy. Trophic ulcers, hyperkeratosis and nail dystrophy occur in 90% of patients on the lower extremities. Atrophy of the skin of the face ends with the formation of a beak-shaped nose ("bird's nose"), narrowing of the oral fissure and sharpening of the chin, resembling a "scleroderma mask". Of the endocrine disorders, hypogenitalism, late appearance or absence of secondary sexual characteristics, dysfunction of the upper and lower parathyroid glands (impaired calcium metabolism), thyroid gland (exophthalmos) and pituitary gland (lunar face, high voice) are noted. Often there is osteoporosis. Changes in the fingers resemble those in sclerodactyly. Most patients with Werner's syndrome die before the age of 40. Trials are currently underway to treat the disease with stem cells.

Aging of the whole organism is a natural and inevitable process programmed by nature, which is one of the main problems of biology and medical science in general.

Although changes in appearance are natural, physiological, but the timing of their appearance depends on many causal factors - genetic, hereditary, age. The latter are determined by the influence of the aging organism on all organs and tissues, including the skin. What are the causes and how to prevent premature skin aging.

Causes of premature skin aging

External manifestations of pathological wilting include:

thinning and, a decrease in the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer;
dryness, itching and peeling of the epithelium of the stratum corneum;
discoloration of the skin of the face;
decreased skin turgor and gravitational tissue ptosis;
early appearance of wrinkles, folds on the face;
vascular changes in the form of expansion of superficial vessels (), the appearance of vascular "nets" and "asterisks";
premature aging of the skin of the hands;
early and.

These phenomena begin to appear from the age of 25, and in the presence of adverse factors, sometimes even earlier. With increasing age, they increase more and more. Pathological, or premature, aging is accompanied by changes in internal organs and tissues and is characterized by a higher rate of appearance of changes in a person's appearance compared to people of the same age category. In these cases, we are talking about advancing, exceeding biological age, in comparison with passport data.

Inextricable withering of the skin is associated with changes throughout the body. Accordingly, the factors that cause early skin aging are basically the same as those that accelerate the appearance of age-related changes in the body. Thus, the rate of development of age-related changes in the skin is constantly or periodically affected by numerous unfavorable, so-called "everyday" factors:

Internal, or endogenous.
External, or exogenous.
A combination of internal and external factors.

Endogenous negative factors

They are mainly associated with a weakening of general immunity and a violation of the blood levels of sex hormones, in particular estrogens, in women. In addition, for the development of premature aging, the inadequate functioning of the nervous, endocrine, microcirculatory systems, organs of the excretory and respiratory systems is of no small importance. All of them provide the skin with the ability to maintain biochemical processes, temperature and barrier functions, and local immunity at the required level.

Therefore, the most common diseases leading to early skin aging are endocrine system pathologies, especially diabetes mellitus, reduced thyroid function, hypothalamic-pituitary syndrome, diseases of the endocrine glands of the genital organs, coronary heart disease and cardiovascular insufficiency, chronic pulmonary pathology, a decrease in the degree of general immune protection, which also leads to a decrease in local immunity, autoimmune diseases of the connective tissue.

Of no small importance are also the pathology of the liver and biliary system, diseases of the digestive tract and urinary system, metabolic disorders in the body. Features of premature wilting in men are associated, in addition to the above, mainly with a decrease (for various reasons) in the blood levels of male sex hormones, since it is they that have a stimulating effect on the sebaceous and sweat glands.

It is quite natural that the full supply of the skin with oxygen, vitamins, microelements, hormones, etc., of course, depends on the content of these components in the body, but one should not underestimate their supply to the cells through the blood and lymph microcirculation system, as well as the role of these mechanisms in removal of decay products and processes of cellular regeneration.

Exogenous factors

These include mainly:

Unfavorable environmental conditions (from 40 to 60%), in which the ambient air contains significant concentrations of chemical compounds harmful to the body;
Excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation on the skin that is not protected by sunscreens, as well as the neglect of the use of after-sun creams that help neutralize the effects of solar radiation;
Insufficient, or, conversely, excessive humidity of the environment;
Poor diet, overweight and lack of physical activity;
Frequent stressful conditions and prolonged psycho-emotional stress;
Abuse of alcoholic beverages, as well as smoking, in which chronic nicotine intoxication, which causes spasm of small peripheral vessels, leads to disturbances in blood microcirculation and to a deterioration in the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues. In addition, some chemical compounds contained in tobacco destroy proteins, which include metal atoms (metal proteins) involved in the synthesis of skin and elastin, resulting in a decrease in skin elasticity with intense formation of wrinkles;
Dyes and food preservatives and components of some cosmetics, as well as household chemicals that contribute to allergic and inflammatory reactions;
The level of social status, including biological and psychological needs and social opportunities to meet them.

Basic Mechanisms

The mechanisms of pathological aging are specific physiological and biochemical processes through which the impact on the human body of negative endogenous and exogenous factors is realized. Among the various mechanisms at present, the main importance is given to the so-called free radical reactions, which result in the formation of free radicals and aggressively active oxygen forms.

Free radicals are "fragments" of molecules with missing electrons. Their reactive activity is due to the ability to attach electrons to themselves from other molecules. Such a biochemical reaction is necessary to ensure the flow of normal metabolic processes in the body. Under normal physiological conditions, the amount of free radical molecules is strictly controlled by the body.

However, under the influence of negative factors, especially chemical compounds of the environment and ultraviolet rays, an excess amount and accumulation of free radicals are formed. They lead to the destruction of the cell membrane, cellular lipids, proteins, mitochondria and DNA. The consequence of this influence is premature cell death, the predominance of degenerative processes over cellular regeneration, accelerated degradation and disruption of the synthesis of collagen and elastin proteins. All these phenomena are united by the name "oxidative stress".

Collagen and elastin fibers play a particularly important role in the condition of the skin, giving it a state of strength, firmness and elasticity. With age, there is a gradual decrease in their volume and quantity. But under the influence of accumulated free radicals, what is especially important, significant changes in their structure and physico-chemical properties occur, due to which skin firmness and elasticity decrease, wrinkles and folds form, and tissues of the face and other parts of the body appear.

Another significant mechanism is a decrease in the saturation of the skin with water molecules and the destruction of its epidermal layer as a barrier. The result is an increased vulnerability of the skin to the influence of bacterial, physical and chemical factors.

So, summing up the section, it is necessary to highlight the main mechanisms and manifestations of aging. The first ones include:

Deceleration of cellular renewal.
Quantitative reduction and structural and qualitative violation of collagen and elastin proteins.
Disorder of microcirculation in tissues and increased permeability of the vascular wall, leading to skin dehydration and edema of the intercellular tissue.
Destruction of the epidermal barrier.
Accumulation of metabolic products.

How can early destructive processes be prevented?

Despite a certain “autonomy” of the skin, their successful functioning cannot but depend on the state of the whole organism or its individual systems, and it is impossible to slow down the processes of early skin aging by using only cosmetics and preparations.

Since modern medicine does not have enough ways to influence the genetic and age factors of aging, the main efforts of it and cosmetology are aimed at eliminating or limiting the influence of "everyday factors". Identification of the causes makes it possible to prevent aging or at least slow down the pace of its development. For these purposes, it is necessary:

prevention of stressful situations and psycho-emotional disorders and increasing resistance to their effects;
rational nutrition, the correct mode of work and rest, the normalization of sleep;
quitting smoking and alcohol abuse;
treatment of diseases or correction of the functioning of internal organs with drugs and other means;
correction of the general immune state and local immunity;
increasing the possibilities of regulating the body by adaptive mechanisms (improving metabolism, normalizing hormonal levels, accelerating the removal of toxins and toxins from the body, etc.);
proper and regular skin care with anti-aging cosmetics.

Of great importance in the fight against oxidative stress has become an increased use and external use of natural antioxidants that can block free radical oxidative reactions, as well as their use in cosmetology and medicine in the form of drugs.

How to avoid premature skin aging?

Aging is not a disease, but a state of the body, which is due to heredity and age characteristics. Currently, medicine and modern cosmetology have very little ability to influence the genetic and age-related causes of aging.

At the same time, premature wilting is the object of their attention. Therefore, their main tasks are to eliminate the "everyday" causative factors and early manifestations of wilting, as well as the correct application of anti-aging therapy methods. This can be largely influenced by the person himself, who is informed about the causes of early withering of the skin.