Tosato Matteo, Zamboni Valentina, Ferrini Alessandro, Cesari Matteo
Department of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Physiatry, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
Clin Interv Aging. 2007;2(3):401-12.
Aging is commonly defined as the accumulation of diverse deleterious changes occurring in cells and tissues with advancing age that are responsible for the increased risk of disease and death. The major theories of aging are all specific of a particular cause of aging, providing useful and important insights for the understanding of age-related physiological changes. However, a global view of them is needed when debating of a process which is still obscure in some of its aspects. In this context, the search for a single cause of aging has recently been replaced by the view of aging as an extremely complex, multifactorial process. Therefore, the different theories of aging should not be considered as mutually exclusive, but complementary of others in the explanation of some or all the features of the normal aging process. To date, no convincing evidence showing the administration of existing "anti-aging" remedies can slow aging or increase longevity in humans is available. Nevertheless, several studies on animal models have shown that aging rates and life expectancy can be modified. The present review provides an overlook of the most commonly accepted theories of aging, providing current evidence of those interventions aimed at modifying the aging process.
衰老通常被定义为随着年龄增长，细胞和组织中发生的各种有害变化的积累，这些变化会导致疾病和死亡风险增加。主要的衰老理论都针对特定的衰老原因，为理解与年龄相关的生理变化提供了有用且重要的见解。然而，在讨论一个某些方面仍不明朗的过程时，需要对这些理论有一个整体的认识。在这种情况下，寻找单一的衰老原因最近已被衰老乃极其复杂的多因素过程这一观点所取代。因此，不同的衰老理论不应被视为相互排斥，而应在解释正常衰老过程的某些或所有特征时相互补充。迄今为止，尚无令人信服的证据表明使用现有的“抗衰老”疗法能够延缓人类衰老或延长寿命。尽管如此，一些针对动物模型的研究表明，衰老速度和预期寿命是可以改变的。本综述对最常被接受的衰老理论进行了概述，并提供了旨在改变衰老过程的干预措施的当前证据。
