Book contents
- Unaging
- Reviews
- Unaging
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Part I Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging?
- 1 Aging Is Not Inevitable, It Is an Opportunity
- 2 The Theory of the Multiple Reserve Factors
- 3 The Brain Is Not an Organ, It Is the Master
- 4 Memory and Cognition
- 5 The Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging
- 6 Stroke and Vascular Cognitive Impairment
- 7 Other Dementias
- 8 Our Microbiota and How to Do Gene Therapy in the Kitchen
- 9 The Health of the Body and the Physical Reserve Factor
- 10 Depression, Anxiety, and What Good Is Feeling Bad?
- 11 Genetics Aren’t Everything
- Part II Applications: What Can We Do about the Opportunity of Aging?
- Part III Conclusions
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- References
- Index
9 - The Health of the Body and the Physical Reserve Factor
from Part I - Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2022
- Unaging
- Reviews
- Unaging
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface
- Part I Foundations: What Do We Need to Know about Optimal Aging?
- 1 Aging Is Not Inevitable, It Is an Opportunity
- 2 The Theory of the Multiple Reserve Factors
- 3 The Brain Is Not an Organ, It Is the Master
- 4 Memory and Cognition
- 5 The Neurodegenerative Diseases of Aging
- 6 Stroke and Vascular Cognitive Impairment
- 7 Other Dementias
- 8 Our Microbiota and How to Do Gene Therapy in the Kitchen
- 9 The Health of the Body and the Physical Reserve Factor
- 10 Depression, Anxiety, and What Good Is Feeling Bad?
- 11 Genetics Aren’t Everything
- Part II Applications: What Can We Do about the Opportunity of Aging?
- Part III Conclusions
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
As we age, we have a little bit less of everything: less energy, less physical flexibility, less learning capacity. That’s why the concept of multiple reserves is so important. Aging well isn’t just about avoiding death and disease. Aging healthy also means keeping the reserve capacity of our component systems high so that, as function declines with age, performance is less severely affected, and fitness is better maintained. The body’s organ systems are all interconnected and interdependent. And the brain is dependent upon the healthy functioning of all organ systems. It needs to be a goal of our aging to enhance the possibility that negative interactions do not take place. In order to pursue this goal, we need to manage our lifestyle activities so that our fitness levels can be enhanced. By this I mean fitness in the sense of interdependence—fitness of all the body parts, not only one of them. The good news is there are lots of things everyone can do to maximize healthful interactions inside our body and between ourselves and friends, family, and community.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- UnagingThe Four Factors that Impact How You Age, pp. 148 - 160Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022