Age management medicine is a new specialty that looks specifically at the aging process and considers how to slow aging and how to make it proceed more smoothly. Aging is normally associated with numerous discomforts and difficulties that people dread and wish to avoid if at all possible as the years tick by. As scientists explore the possibility of managing diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and atherosclerosis more effectively, they are finding some exciting new information about the body and what may actually be the cause of a lot of discomforts and diseases associated with aging. Chronic inflammation at the cellular and molecular level appears to play an important role in the aging process and in creating and facilitating the development of a number of diseases. Scientists and medical professionals are excited about this common link that appears to be so important in age-related disorders and health issues because controlling inflammation may mean controlling the aging process and a number of the diseases associated with it.
Inflammation is the body's natural response to infection as well as injury. Inflammation, in the case of infection or injury is actually positive and healthy. Unfortunately, as the body ages, or under certain conditions when people are younger, the inflammatory response doesn't end when the infection does. Rather, the inflammation becomes chronic and on-going. Chronic, ongoing inflammation can lead to a whole array of different health problems from depression to generalized weakness and fatigue as well as autoimmune diseases like those mentioned above.
Inflammation is mediated by certain substances in the body like cytokines or C-reactive protein. Tissues exposed to these substances become inflamed. Unfortunately, fat cells actually produce cytokines. That means that if you have more fat cells in the body, you have more cytokines being produced and thus more inflammation. Because inflammation has been associated with aging, this means that being overweight can actually cause you to age faster.
Controlling the inflammation process is important if you want to control heart disease or diabetes or any other disease that is correlated with inflammation. Losing weight, particularly fat from the body can have an impact on the inflammatory response. Some individuals maintain a low calorie restrictive diet that is high in nutrients and micronutrients to lower the inflammatory response in the body. This has been shown to get certain disease states under control as well as slow the aging process. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has also been utilized to help reduce the inflammatory response in promising ways. Hormone therapy helps the body balance inflammation, neither preventing inflammation entirely nor allowing it to go unchecked in the body to create on-going problems. Balanced hormones that can be achieved through hormone treatments can make it easier for individuals to lose fat, thereby slowing the aging process and the inflammatory response in the body.
Though losing weight, specifically fat, is a goal for a lot of people right now, the evidence is growing to support another reason why weight loss is beneficial for you. If you're experiencing the classic signs of aging, it appears that getting rid of some extra fat stores in the body can diminish the momentum of the aging process considerably. Whether you use hormones, a calorie restriction diet, or other methods to get your weight under control and lose fat stores, your health will likely improve considerably from your efforts and the progress of time will impact the way you look and feel less profoundly.
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