Physical education classes to improve health in the fresh air within the framework of the “Longevity of Moscow” project.
Photo: Vladimir VELENGURIN
WE WILL LIVE TO 78 YEARS OLD
Vladimir Chenokhin, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Life Sciences”, recalled plans to increase the average life expectancy of Russians to 78 years (currently 73.5 years) and the country’s population. This will automatically lead to an increase in the proportion of senior citizens and thus an increase in co-morbidities. According to Olga Tkacheva, independent chief geriatrician of the Russian Ministry of Health, currently 23% of the Russian population are elderly. But by 2030 it is expected to be 25%. Furthermore, even more.
“Of course, I want people to feel younger than their passport age and to be active citizens,” said Olga Tkacheva. – We identified six main groups of age-related diseases: various diseases of the cardiovascular system, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, cognitive impairment (mainly Alzheimer’s disease), diseases of the musculoskeletal system and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Geriatricians pay attention to everyone. We also study the mechanisms of aging.
For example, now at the Russian Gerontological Research and Clinical Center of the Russian National Research Medical University named after NI Pirogov (Olga Tkacheva is its director) they are very closely studying the influence of the extracellular matrix on the cellular aging processes. And medications are being developed to help control this mechanism.
In brief and simplified terms: the extracellular matrix is the substance in which our cells “float.” Our cells will receive nutrition from it, but “garbage” is also thrown there: the more of it in the extracellular matrix, the faster the aging and death of cells will occur. The drugs developed in the institute’s laboratories also work with this “garbage,” cleaning the matrix like a vacuum cleaner.
A biological age calculator has also been developed. And recently the first Healthy Longevity Medicine Clinic in the country was inaugurated, where strategies are developed for the prevention of age-related diseases based on the patient’s biological age.
But until now, the main means of combating aging remains a healthy lifestyle: the absence of bad habits, good sleep and adequate physical activity.
WHY DOES THE BRAIN AGE?
One of the main problems of older people is related to senile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. If decrepit muscles can still be maintained through physical activity, then, unfortunately, this is not always the case.
The director of the Brain Institute, Sergei Illarioshkin, stated that more than 40 million people in the world currently suffer from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease:
– According to some forecasts, by 2050 this figure could triple at least: up to 120 million. We can see this in Japan, where the average life expectancy has reached 85 years. But at the same time, 15% of older people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease,” said Sergei Illarioshkin.
The essence of Alzheimer’s disease is brief: with age, beta-amyloid proteins and its variety, the tau protein, accumulate in the brain, in its nerve cells. They form true plaques in nerve cells, like cholesterol in blood vessels.
“But the accumulation of beta-amyloid begins long before we see the first manifestations of dementia,” says Sergei Illarioshkin. – As a general rule, at that time 50% of the neurons in the brain have already died. This usually occurs after age 65. However, we can track disease markers earlier. And now it is very important to create technologies for earlier intervention in order to delay the onset of the disease. Today we can diagnose Alzheimer’s using a positron emission tomography (PET), which shows the accumulation of beta-amyloid. Another method is to test the cerebrospinal fluid for levels of amyloid beta proteins. And now it appears that the drugs remove pathological beta-amyloid from brain matter. They can reduce the rate of progression of Alzheimer’s disease by up to 30%. It is important to start treatment as soon as possible.
If decrepit muscles can still be maintained through physical activity, then, unfortunately, this is not always the case.
Photo: Shutterstock
BY THE WAY
What else affects dementia besides age?
– Severely suffered from Covid and other viral diseases, including herpes, shingles and chlamydia.
– It has been shown that forest fires, or rather, the inhalation of fine particles from smoke, also accelerate brain aging.
– Lifestyle is also to blame: the less movement, the faster the brain ages.
– Scientists have also identified a direct relationship between dementia and a low level of education and, in general, an unwillingness to learn something new, that is, a weak cognitive load.
“And sleep is very important: “The lymphatic system of the brain, involved in the elimination of pathological beta-amyloids, is especially active at night, during deep sleep,” said Sergei Illarioshkin.
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEART
General Director of the National Center for Medical Research in Cardiology that bears his name. Academician EI Chazova, Vice President of the Russian Society of Cardiology, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Boytsov, said that in 100 years the structure of heart diseases in older people has changed significantly: “If before it was mainly about heart attacks of myocardium, rheumatic heart defects, myocarditis, then Today people live to see heart diseases that age: fibrosis, amyloidosis, degenerative heart defects, aortic pathologies. That is, this is something that we can notice in the early stages of development. It is important to visit a cardiologist on time, do an ECG and have tests at least once a year.”
Sergei Boytsov also joined his colleagues and stated that the main prevention of heart disease has always been a healthy lifestyle. But still, the most important thing is proper physical exercise: not sudden, but moderate exercise, for example, Nordic walking or swimming. Making all muscles work at an even pace improves microcirculation in all cells and tissues, including the heart. The main thing is regularity.
FOR STRONG BONES AND DURABLE VESSELS
According to sad statistics: in Russia there are approximately 45 million obese patients and 5.5 million people with type 2 diabetes. And these are only official data, which can be safely multiplied by two, because many people live with prediabetes without knowing it. . And to know your risks, it is important to undergo a medical examination once a year starting at age 45.
“One of the factors of obesity in the body is the lack of hormones during menopause, and we can definitely control this with the help of modern therapy,” recalled Natalya Mokrysheva, director of the National Medical Research Center for Endocrinology of the Ministry of Russian Health. Health. – Hormone replacement therapy is prescribed after an examination by a gynecologist.
That is, in order to remain cheerful and full of strength, it is first of all important for a modern woman (and man) to monitor her health, know her basic indicators and maintain a normal body weight. It is also very important in old age to control calcium and vitamin D levels; This is the prevention of osteoporosis and fractures.
BY THE WAY
Age is not the same today!
Over the course of 100 to 200 years, the portrait of an elderly person has changed a lot.
One of the most striking examples of portraits of old women from the beginning of the 20th century is that of Gorky’s old woman Izergil: “Her black eyes were still dull, the memory did not revive them. The moon illuminated her dry, chapped lips, her pointed chin with gray hairs, and her wrinkled nose, curved like an owl’s beak. In place of her cheeks were black holes, and in one of them lay a strand of ash-gray hair that had escaped from under the red rag wrapped around her head. The skin on his face, neck and hands is full of wrinkles, and with every movement of old Izergil, one could expect that this dry skin would tear, crumble into pieces, and a naked skeleton with dull black eyes would appear before him. to me. “The story does not directly say how old she was, but it is unlikely that she is over 70.
Or the old pawnbroker in Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”: “She was a small, dry old woman, about 60 years old, with piercing, angry eyes, a small, pointed nose, and bare hair. A kind of flannel rag was wrapped around her long, thin neck, similar to a chicken leg… The old woman was coughing and moaning every minute. She in some ways looks like Baba Yaga or an evil witch.”
“Now imagine if we described 21st century women aged 60-70 like this,” said Natalya Mokrysheva. – The portrait has changed dramatically!
