If you are young, you can hardly imagine what it is like to be old. Beyond 30, however, you suddenly become aware: the skin becomes flabbier, the body no longer forgives dietary and alcoholic sins so quickly. Aging may not be the most beautiful thing in the world, but it is the fairest, because it affects everyone – rich or poor, man or woman. However, personal living conditions have a great influence on how quickly or slowly the typical signs of decay become apparent. This is precisely what anti-aging medicine is concerned with.
The term “anti-aging”
The word originates from the USA and means figuratively as much as “healthy aging”. The discipline deals with the basics of the aging process in order to avoid diseases with the help of preventive measures and to keep body and mind young as long as possible. For this reason, anti-aging physicians also distinguish between chronological and biological age.
The core thesis is: Those who keep themselves physically and mentally fit, eat a healthy diet, and do not overexploit their body or mind have a good chance of undercutting their chronological age according to their date of birth.
Of course, the same applies the other way around: those who smoke, drink alcohol regularly and do not exercise, maintain few friendships or do not find any balance in their family will, in all likelihood, age faster than their chronological clock actually predicts.
Aging with every breath
Every breath, every heartbeat, every metabolic process leaves traces on the body. Aging, then, means that with increasing wear and tear, physical and mental abilities diminish. This process does not occur at the same rate in everyone. On the one hand, genes influence the speed and intensity of aging.
The most extreme form of genetic defect is progeria, a very rare hereditary disease that causes those affected to age at about five to six times the normal rate. Apart from such hereditary defects, anti-aging specialists assume that a healthy lifestyle helps to determine the aging process. Medical experts disagree about the extent of this influence. The fact is, however: it’s all about sensible health care.
Determining the “real” age
So everyone can control their biological age to a certain extent, or so the theory goes. The first logical step, therefore, is to determine the status quo. But how can I even determine whether I am older or younger than my chronological age?
The first clues are certainly provided by outward appearance. Anyone who is told by outsiders that they look youthful or are estimated to be younger is usually on the right track. More concrete clues are provided by questionnaires in books that use a point system to determine biological age. These tests already require a minimum of knowledge about the own body, because they query blood pressure, cholesterol, resting pulse and fasting blood sugar.
So if you want to know your biological age, you should have the relevant data determined by your family doctor. In addition, various diagnostic methods are available in so-called anti-aging institutes. An “age scan,” for example, includes tests that determine hearing and tactile senses, muscle coordination, memory performance and lung function. However, such preventive services are not usually covered by health insurance.
