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Medical News Today
a day ago
- Health
- Medical News Today
Understanding secondary aging: What can influence how well we age?
Secondary aging refers to aging-related changes caused by environmental, lifestyle, and health factors rather than natural biological processes. Aging happens to everyone, but people do not age in the same way. While some aspects of aging are inevitable biological processes, others result from factors a person can often control or influence. These controllable factors make up what experts call 'secondary aging.'Secondary aging includes changes that occur with age due to disease, environmental factors, and lifestyle choices rather than natural biological processes. Understanding the difference between unavoidable aging and preventable aging can help people make better health decisions throughout life. What is secondary aging?Secondary aging involves the aspects of getting older that people can potentially influence or modify. Unlike primary aging, which happens naturally to everyone over time, secondary aging results from environmental exposures, personal habits, and medical conditions that accumulate throughout people of the same chronological age may have very different biological ages based on their secondary aging factors. This explains why some 80-year-olds maintain robust health and independence while others experience significant functional decline decades of secondary aging include cardiovascular disease from diet issues, hearing loss from noise exposure, lung damage from smoking, and mobility limitations from sedentary behavior. These conditions are not the inevitable consequences of aging but rather result from cumulative exposure to harmful factors or lack of protective vs. secondary agingPrimary aging encompasses the universal, inevitable biological changes that occur with time regardless of behavior or environment. These changes happen to all humans and represent the natural deterioration of cells and systems as part of the human life differences between primary and secondary aging include:primary aging occurs in everyone, while secondary aging varies between individualsprimary aging follows a largely predetermined biological timeline, while secondary aging can accelerate or decelerate based on external factorsprimary aging is not preventable (though it may slow down), while a person can minimize secondary aging effects or prevent them entirelyprimary aging includes processes like DNA methylation and telomere shortening, while secondary aging includes conditions such as type 2 diabetes or emphysemaWhat affects secondary aging?Secondary aging results from multiple interacting factors that accumulate over a person's life span, creating either positive or negative effects on the aging process. Lifestyle choices, environmental exposures, and health conditions work together to influence how a person ages beyond the natural biological health status significantly impacts secondary aging, with existing health conditions often accelerating age-related changes. Healthy aging tactics include:maintaining proper weight to reduce the risk of metabolic disorderscontrolling chronic conditions to minimize their cumulative damagepreserving mobility to maintain independence and functionaddressing mental health to support cognitive healthmanaging inflammation to reduce cellular damagekeeping hormonal balance to support multiple body systemsRegular health monitoring allows for early interventions to prevent or minimize secondary aging effects. EnvironmentEnvironmental factors play a crucial role in secondary aging. They include:Air pollution: Experts link exposure to pollutants such as PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide to respiratory and cardiovascular issues as well as cognitive decline and increased dementia exposure: Chronic noise exposure can lead to hearing loss and heightened stress levels, which can contribute to cardiovascular problems. Sun exposure: Ultraviolet radiation accelerates skin aging and increases the risk of skin cancers. Chemical exposure: Contact with harmful chemicals, such as heavy metals and pesticides, can cause cellular damage and elevate cancer risk. Radiation exposure: Ionizing radiation damages DNA, increasing the likelihood of cancer and other health issues. Illness and diseaseSpecific illnesses and diseases contribute substantially to secondary aging by causing damage that compounds age-related changes. Examples include: cardiovascular disease accelerates vascular agingdiabetes affects multiple systems, including nerves, kidneys, and circulationautoimmune conditions increase systemic inflammationinfectious diseases can cause lasting damage to affected systemscancer and cancer treatments can accelerate cellular agingosteoporosis increases fracture risk and activity limitationsEven after recovery from acute illness, residual effects may persist and contribute to secondary aging. This cumulative damage explains why a serious illness history predicts functional status in later life. However, proper disease management can minimize these choices are the most modifiable factors affecting secondary aging. They include:eating a balanced diet rich in plant foods to support cellular functionengaging in regular physical activity to maintain strength and mobilitygetting adequate sleep, allowing for proper cellular repairavoiding smoking to prevent numerous health conditionslimiting alcohol consumption to reduce organ damagemanaging stress effectively to support immune functionThe combination of multiple positive lifestyle factors provides greater protection than any single factor alone, suggesting the importance of comprehensive healthy lifestyle agingBeyond primary and secondary aging, scientists recognize a third category called tertiary aging, also known as mortality-related aging. It refers to the rapid decline in physical and cognitive function that often occurs shortly before death, regardless of aging involves accelerated deterioration across multiple systems, typically occurring in the final months or years of life. This pattern appears consistent even among individuals who have aged successfully with minimal secondary aging to age healthilyHealthy aging focuses primarily on minimizing secondary aging factors while accepting primary aging as a natural process. Evidence-based approaches to reduce secondary aging include:following a Mediterranean or similar diet rich in whole foodsengaging in both aerobic exercise and strength training regularlymaintaining social connections and meaningful activitiespursuing lifelong learning and cognitive stimulationgetting regular preventive healthcare and screeningspracticing stress reduction techniques such as meditationensuring adequate sleep quantity and qualitylimiting exposure to environmental toxinsavoiding tobacco products and excessive alcoholSuccessful aging approaches recognize that starting earlier provides greater benefits, but interventions at any age can improve outcomes. SummarySecondary aging encompasses the potentially preventable aspects of aging resulting from external factors rather than inevitable biological processes. While primary aging happens to everyone through natural cellular changes, secondary aging varies significantly between individuals based on health status, environmental exposures, disease history, and lifestyle approaches to minimize secondary aging focus on comprehensive lifestyle changes, environmental modifications, and proper management of health conditions. These strategies aim not necessarily to extend life but to maintain quality of life and functional independence for as long as possible.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dementia Risk Starts In Childhood And Even Infancy, Scientists Warn
Though not all of our dementia risk is in our control, medical journal The Lancet has said that almost half of our likelihood of developing the condition is down to 14 potentially 'modifiable' lifestyle factors. These include controlling LDL cholesterol, preventing and treating hearing loss, and staying physically active. These guidelines are heavily focused on those in midlife (aged 40-60), with the only comment for 'early years' being that those who got a better education as kids were 5% less likely to develop dementia. But writing to The Lancet in 2024, scientists in the Next Generation Brain Health (NGBH) team say they have identified 'several high-priority modifiable factors in young adulthood and devised five key recommendations for promoting brain health, ranging from individual to policy levels.' Looking at data from 15 countries across six continents, the researchers found that many of the risk factors for dementia started younger than expected. '80% of adolescents living with obesity will remain this way when they are adults,' the group told The Conversation. 'The same applies to high blood pressure and lack of exercise. Similarly, virtually all adults who smoke or drink will have started these unhealthy habits in or around adolescence.' Vision loss, air pollution, and the aforementioned lack of education are less studied in young people, particularly as they relate to dementia risk, they argue in their Lancet paper. They point out that a person's cognitive ability at 11 is linked to their risk of dementia at 70; more and more research is showing associations between everything from childhood neglect to maternal smoking and the condition. That means dementia risk could start as far back as infancy. But, the researchers argue, many dementia studies begin at midlife, skewing the recommendations towards an older crowd. 'Young adults (aged 18–39 years) are a neglected population in dementia research and policy making despite being highly exposed to several known modifiable risk factors,' the group shared. It's frustrating to think that a lot of the modifiable risk factors for dementia may have begun before you could agree to them (though we don't yet know exactly how much, or by what age; that's what the experts argue we should study). But even among adults, the existing risk factors for midlife are not exactly in our full control. They include things like having depression, getting a traumatic brain injury, and hearing loss. The point is not to depress people out of trying to lower their dementia risk as soon as they can, the researchers say. Instead, it is about encouraging both better policy (like making education, including post-secondary education, free) and improved community care (like ensuring people with hearing loss remain socially included) alongside personal self-improvement (like wearing a helmet when needed). But pretending not to notice, or failing to act in a coordinated way upon, increased dementia risk for younger people will not help, the NGBH say. And, as they told The Conversation, 'while it's never too late to take steps to reduce your risk of dementia, it's also never too early to start.' This Longevity-Boosting Diet May Disrupt The Depression-Dementia Link The Nutrient Linked To Lower Cancer, Heart Disease, And Dementia Risk This Common Herb May Help To Fight Alzheimer's, Anxiety And Poor Sleep
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dementia Risk Starts In Childhood And Even Infancy, Scientists Warn
Though not all of our dementia risk is in our control, medical journal The Lancet has said that almost half of our likelihood of developing the condition is down to 14 potentially 'modifiable' lifestyle factors. These include controlling LDL cholesterol, preventing and treating hearing loss, and staying physically active. These guidelines are heavily focused on those in midlife (aged 40-60), with the only comment for 'early years' being that those who got a better education as kids were 5% less likely to develop dementia. But writing to The Lancet in 2024, scientists in the Next Generation Brain Health (NGBH) team say they have identified 'several high-priority modifiable factors in young adulthood and devised five key recommendations for promoting brain health, ranging from individual to policy levels.' Looking at data from 15 countries across six continents, the researchers found that many of the risk factors for dementia started younger than expected. '80% of adolescents living with obesity will remain this way when they are adults,' the group told The Conversation. 'The same applies to high blood pressure and lack of exercise. Similarly, virtually all adults who smoke or drink will have started these unhealthy habits in or around adolescence.' Vision loss, air pollution, and the aforementioned lack of education are less studied in young people, particularly as they relate to dementia risk, they argue in their Lancet paper. They point out that a person's cognitive ability at 11 is linked to their risk of dementia at 70; more and more research is showing associations between everything from childhood neglect to maternal smoking and the condition. That means dementia risk could start as far back as infancy. But, the researchers argue, many dementia studies begin at midlife, skewing the recommendations towards an older crowd. 'Young adults (aged 18–39 years) are a neglected population in dementia research and policy making despite being highly exposed to several known modifiable risk factors,' the group shared. It's frustrating to think that a lot of the modifiable risk factors for dementia may have begun before you could agree to them (though we don't yet know exactly how much, or by what age; that's what the experts argue we should study). But even among adults, the existing risk factors for midlife are not exactly in our full control. They include things like having depression, getting a traumatic brain injury, and hearing loss. The point is not to depress people out of trying to lower their dementia risk as soon as they can, the researchers say. Instead, it is about encouraging both better policy (like making education, including post-secondary education, free) and improved community care (like ensuring people with hearing loss remain socially included) alongside personal self-improvement (like wearing a helmet when needed). But pretending not to notice, or failing to act in a coordinated way upon, increased dementia risk for younger people will not help, the NGBH say. And, as they told The Conversation, 'while it's never too late to take steps to reduce your risk of dementia, it's also never too early to start.' This Longevity-Boosting Diet May Disrupt The Depression-Dementia Link The Nutrient Linked To Lower Cancer, Heart Disease, And Dementia Risk This Common Herb May Help To Fight Alzheimer's, Anxiety And Poor Sleep
