From the legendary Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon to the fictional Captain Jack Sparrow in 2007’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” the allure of a Fountain of Youth continues to mesmerize. It appears that de Leon never found Florida’s purported anti-aging formula, and we don’t yet know whether or not Sparrow will find the elixir. What we do know is that, today, the science of aging has progressed in leaps and bounds. Indeed, we know a great deal about how each of our physiological systems functions, and the factors that cause each of them to derail and accelerate the aging process.
Free Radicals
Take free radical damage, for example. Free radical damage happens when the body’s cells lose electrons. Just as an old car eventually rusts out, a person’s body ages as it sustains free radical damage. Some people theorize that aging itself is a result of free radical damage, while others theorize that conditions associated with aging arise as a result of free radical damage and together contribute to the aging process.
Reversing the Effects
The question then becomes, how can we reverse the effects...