Immunological Theory of Aging

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Throughout history, mankind has been obsessed with discovering a cure for any ailments or disorders that could disrupt or hinder their short lives, especially those to evade the aging process. With society becoming increasingly interested in everlasting beauty and living longer, the race to discover the main contributor toward aging begun in the early nineteen hundreds. In the midst of this quest, several biological theories had been developed. Among these theories is the immunity or immunological theory. This paper will discuss the immunological theory of aging by explaining the theory, giving a history of its origin and a description of further development within the evolution of the theory.
Aging, as exhibited within the immunity theory, was described as a pre-programmed accumulation of damage, decay and decline within the function of the immune system caused by oxidative stress as a result of the Hayflick limit or biological clock (Touhy and Jett, 2012). This limit refers to the idea that aging is the result of cell and organisms containing a genetically predetermined life span (Touhy and Jett, 2012). This suggested that in relation to a cell’s proliferative instinct, aging becomes more relevant within an individual when the cells reach the limit, introducing cellular errors of imperfect proliferations that result into further damage. Furthermore, no cell within the body has seemed to be above this concept, including the B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes of the immune system. In fact, cellular errors within the immune system have been found to cultivate an autoregressive phenomenon in which normal cells are misidentified as foreign and are consequently destroyed by the body’s own immune system (Touhy and Jett, 2012). The dest...

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...otecting them from further dangerous exogenous substances, a price is later paid with a weakened dysregulated immune system, becoming susceptible to aging and age related diseases (DeVeale, Brummel & Seroude, 2004). Despite continued research into the complex aging process, humans are continually aging both physically and mentally. However, just as the immune system is a part of the complexity of the human being, so is aging (Effros, 2005).

Works Cited

DeVeale, B., Brummel, T., & Seroude, L. (2004). Immunity and aging: the enemy within?. Aging Cell, 3(4), 195-208.
Effros, R. B. (2005). Roy Walford and the immunologic theory of aging. Immunity & Ageing, 27-3. doi:10.1186/1742-4933-2-7
Touhy, T. & Jett, K. (2012). Ebersole & Hess’ Toward healthy aging human needs &
Nursing response (8th Ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier Mosby. 36-37 pp. [ISBN 978-0-
323-07316-5].

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