What Is Aging?

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Aging is a physiologic process which is accompanied by an array of changes in the human body.  Despite being unstoppable, there are many ways that you can help yourself and lower the speed of aging and reduce the impact of aging process, keep healthier and feel happier. These changes being part of normal wear and tear process, don't necessarily indicate a disease or a health problem. They only show that your body went through a life journey. Keeping healthy and staying in a top shape is an excellent way of living life. Despite the fact that, even in that superb living condition, wear and tear happens, you still want to slow the pace of aging, and the good news is that you can. As I always say, knowledge is the key. Having some knowledge and working with professionals who both care for you and are equipped with the latest data helps you slow down the process. The goal of any longevity and healthy aging plan is health preservation, disease prevention and happiness promotion. 

What Changes to Expect In Your Body As You Age?

Skin: Your skin being the mirror of your inner health, is your large defensive system against all external agents. That’s why it shows the signs of aging earlier. But the god news is that, skin in turn is one of the best organs in the aging process to help, prevent progression of aging and in many cases improve the outcome. For example, your skin gradually loses its elasticity and volume. As a result, wrinkles and fine lines will start to appear. By changing in collagen content, your skin becomes thinner and more fragile, which make it prone to easy bruise. Good news is that, with supervised improved nutrition, some evidence based natural skin care routines and products,  and if indicated acupuncture you might be able to help pace this process. Another common culprit is sun damage and appearance of sunspots which are very common during process of aging. Education is the key. Learning from professionals how to take care of skin helps you keep your youthful healthy skin for years before aging process can show itself. There are many steps to learn that help you prevent early aging. They may include natural skin care advice and treatments to remedy sun damage, pigmentation, preventing environmental impact, collagen and peptide generation, and many more. These are ways to help with longevity and healthy skin aging inside and out. Remember skin is the mirror of your inner health. We work with you to improve your inner health while externally addressing superficial skin concerns related to longevity and healthy aging.  

Musculoskeletal tissue: As you age, your bones lose their density due to the changes in collogen, Bone matrix, calcium, magnesium and vitamin D absorption, production and metabolism. These elements give bone it's strength. Bottomline, the balance between bone production and bone resorption shifts toward resorption. On the other hand, the absorption capacity of your gut declines partly because of your gut lining cells and mostly because of your gut microbiome changes. Therefore, you receive less calcium from foods you eat, Your bones and joints make lower quality tissue, and as a result bone and joints become weaker. Your bones and spines may shrink in size making them more susceptible to injuries and fractures happens very easily due to minor trauma and falling. Your muscles begin to lose their mass and consistency that leads to becoming weaker while your joints suffer from age related wear and tear causing pain and inflammation. Question is are there any way to prevent or at least postpone these changes? The answer is yes. Consult with us to find out how we are dedicated to educating you how to implement an individualized longevity  and healthy aging program specific to your musculoskeletal system to help you stay functional for longer with less pain and lower rate of fall and bone fracture.

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Immunity: Process of aging weakens your immune system and lowers immunity level. It happens because of slowing responses to invading agents, reducing number and efficacy of defensive cells like white blood cells, lower level of cellular communication, weaker pathogens detection and slower repairment. Therefore, a low level of inflammation develops due to aging immune cell over signaling because of low performance. So gradually the immune system start malfunctioning and damaging healthy tissues, making you more susceptible to infections and vulnerable against other diseases and eventually different types of cancer. Good news is that with an immunity health targeted longevity and healthy aging plan you can help improve your immune system years before it starts to decline. Your plan may include but not limited to individualized exercise prescription, stress management, sleep hygiene, functional diet and nutritional supplements based on your gut microbiome and metabolic status to help you live healthier, happier lives.

Memory: you may experience mild and minor memory problems with age which do not always lead to dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Minor gaps in memory such as having difficulty to remembering name of a person or forgetting where you left your car key, may happen which are a normal part of aging. It may take longer to learn new things and make association between newly learned materials. Sometimes the list of the items you can hold in your mind may become shorter. All of these happens because the speed of production of new brain cells declines and eventually the number of brain cells are less. In addition, there might be a lower brain circulation involved due to atherosclerosis of aging. However, good news is that you can lower the speed of senility of brain through natural support of programs involving in longevity and healthier aging. Those programs  may support you through focusing on brain healthy diets and nutritional supplements, promoting better sleep, educating stress management techniques, age appropriate exercise prescription and using modalities like acupuncture to enhance local circulation.

At DR MANESH ND Toronto clinic we encourage our patients to have a regular visits with their  naturopathic doctor to ensure early detection of dis-orders, and manage them to bring them in order. An example is our " Annual Well-woman Visit" that you can click on link and learn more. periodic naturopathic consultation is an excellent idea to ensure that certain health problems are not advancing on you.