6533b853fe1ef96bd12ad401

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Aging and Cell Aging: An Introduction

subject

description

Since more than 100 years people are constantly growing older and a further significant increase in life time is expected in the decades to come. A person born today has a high statistical chance to reach the age of 100, to become a centenarian. Since aging is the primary risk factor for many human disorders it is mandatory to understand the aging process and how it affects onset and course of disorders of the elderly. Scientifically the medium life span is discriminated from the maximum life span. While the latter is rather constant at approximately 120 years the medium life span is increasing. But not only the whole organism, also each single cell out of the billions making up our body has an individual life span ranging from days to months and years until it is eventually dying or exchanged. The majority of our nerve cells is never replaced. Understanding cellular aging and its influence on human disease is a key challenge of molecular medicine research.