As we get older, we feel like tires. Their profile gradually rubs off, at some point the car starts to skid and crashes into the ditch. End. Out of. Aging haunts us all, we thought – until molecular biologists gave us new insights into the world of our body cells.
What we discover there is breathtaking, exciting like a thriller and leaves us in deep awe. I’m like that anyway. What happens around the clock in every cell is so incredibly precise, intelligent, highly complex, it’s as if a city with a million inhabitants had been shrunk to a micrometer! And hold on tight: Every second of our precious life, our body exchanges 50 million of its cells. 50 million will be reduced, 50 million will be created. And what do we notice about it? Nothing! All that’s left for us to do is to humbly say thank you, right?
Nina Ruge started her television career in 1987 at RIAS TV in Berlin, with the stations “heute journal” and “Leute heute” on ZDF and the moderation of talk shows and magazines. Today she works as an author, among other things she writes about the “cell biology of aging”. Her works were published in 2021 and 2022: “Rejuvenation is possible” and “The Rejuvenation Cookbook” (Graefe Unzer). Ruge is a Germany ambassador for UNICEF, patron of the “Network of and for Women with Disabilities in Bavaria” and ambassador of the BMZ’s “Alliance for Development and Climate”. In 2013 she received the Federal Cross of Merit for her social commitment.
But now to the topic of aging, i.e. from car tires to cell biology. We now know that over the years the ingenious dance of the molecules in our cells slowly gets out of step. Unfortunately, it starts at the tender age of around 25 with the irregularities in our almost unearthly cell perfection. That really doesn’t remind you of tire wear. It is our three essential cell competences that imperceptibly begin to weaken.
“Longevity” is the new magic word in age research. It’s not just about growing old, but also about staying healthy and fit. Startups advertise with fantastic makeovers, but what is really behind it? Specialist journalist Nina Ruge and Prof. Björn Schumacher, aging researcher at CEAD, the Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research at the University of Cologne, explain in our webinar. GET YOUR FREE TICKET HERE!
If our cells have lost some of their fitness by the age of 60 or 70, then the diseases of old age have an easy time of it. Unfortunately, we are often attacked by several at the same time. This is “secondary aging”. So are we a bit like car tires after all and the “abrasion” of cell fitness will eventually land us in a ditch?
Cell biology gives us hope: Today we know so much about what gets out of balance in the cells over time that we can give the first serious recommendations on how we can strengthen cell fitness, push age-related diseases off the edge of the bed – and more healthy years experience! The recommendations can be found on the longevity pyramid.
“Rejuvenation is possible” by Nina Ruge
In the plinth are the “lifestyle factors” and the most important has been shown to be healthy longevity nutrition. We know a lot about that today.
Then there’s the exercise factor: Which types of sport exactly and how intensively? Proper breathing, but how does it work? Cold and heat, what’s the deal? Sleeping optimally is also part of it – can you learn that?
And then there are the dietary supplements. I am happy to give you orientation in this jungle. There are some hopefuls there, but also non-starters. And a number of new active ingredients in the test! Drugs, stem cell therapies, gene therapies and many other exciting things are right at the top. Of course, something like this is stronger than breathing training! But it can also have side effects.
There isn’t that much good quality on the market yet, but there is a gold rush atmosphere, especially in the USA, Israel and Asia. Rightly so! Medicines and other therapies that allow us to stay healthy much longer in old age are worth their weight in gold. Staying healthy longer in old age… Would you like to dig a little deeper? I cordially invite you! I do my best to translate what is quite complicated in research in a way that is easy for you to understand. Because I want to encourage you: Live healthier for longer – there is so much you can do yourself.
