In article <3e99u7$8vn at cronkite.ocis.temple.edu> gold at astro.ocis.temple.edu (Bert Gold) writes:
>From: gold at astro.ocis.temple.edu (Bert Gold)
>Subject: Hayflick's Book
>Date: 2 Jan 1995 16:34:15 GMT
>Netters:
>Have you read Leonard Hayflick's Book on "How and Why we Age" ?
>Are you interested in conversing about this book
>an attempt to provide a unified theory of
>current thinking on apoptosis and
>aging?
>Perhaps we can write some kind of minireview together...
>I would be interested in communicating with others thinking about
>this issue.
>Bert Gold
I posted this review in the sci-life-extension newsgroup:
From: morphy at alumni.caltech.edu (Jones M. Murphy, Jr.)
Subject: REVIEW:How And Why We Age, by Leonard Hayflick (Ballantine Books, 1994)
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 19:12:53 GMT
Leonard Hayflick is a cell biologist specializing in aging--a
biogerontologist, as he describes himself. He is co-discoverer of the Hayflick
limit, which is the number of times cells from a particular kind of
differentiated tissue divide before dying(0, for example, in the case of brain
or muscle cells).
The book is a detailed survey of aging in humans, covering demography,
physiology, and psychology. It continues by describing various strategies
aimed at slowing the aging process. The author appears to be quite skeptical
of all strategies except caloric restriction. However, he feels it's an
unacceptable sacrifice in terms of quality of life.
The author also goes on to discuss the desirability of extending life. He
appears to be much more interested in extending health, than extending life.
His views are well thought out and provocative, although I disagree with him.
I heartily recommend the book, despite the fact that it's really a detailed
exposition of why we don't know what aging is!
Jones
By the way, the ISBN is 0-345-33918-5
Here's the scanned-in Table Of Contents, with apologies for any mispellings my
scanner may have rendered.
FOREWORD by Robert N. Butler, M.D......................................
Introduction......................
P A R T O N E: What Is Aging?
1. Defining Aging..................................
Chronological versus Biological Age 12
Longevity Aging, and Death Z5
How Old Are You-Really? 16
2. Some Animals Age, Some Do Not......
Animals That Do Not Age 21
Aging by Wear and Tear 23
Animals That Regenerate 24
"Big Bang" Reproduction and Aging 24
How Long Do Animals Live? 27
3. Redwood Trees Are Not Old.........
Aging and Cell Lineages 35
Grafts and Aging 36
Roots, Shoots, and Aging 36
Programmed Aging 37
The Longevity of Seeds 39
4. Aging Is Not a Disease.........
Normal Age Changes 44
Causes of Death 45
Age-related Illnesses 47
Population versus Individual Aging 48
PART TWO: Aging by The Numbers
6. The Demographic Facts of Life.......
The Graying of America 54
The Statistics Today 57
The Statistics Tomorrow 59
Some Geographical Facts 59
fi. Actuarial Aging.........................
The Likelihood of Death 64
Are We Living Longer? 66
How Many Years Are Left? 67
The Tables of Life 68
Life Tables for Animals 77
The Curves of Life 77
Rectangularizing the Survival Curve 83
Yes, We Are Living Longer 84
7. A Long and Healthy Life...-.. ......
What Is Your Active Life Expectation? 90
Extending Health and Compressing Illness
ls Life Span Fixed Or Changing? 93
Do Some Occupations Favor Longevity? 94
What Will Happen When All Diseases Are Cured? 96
Why Do Women Live Longer than Men? 101
Is There a Weaker Sex? 104
Accelerated Aging in Humans 107
Why Are We Old at Age Sixty-Five? 108
PART THREE: How Do We Age?
8. Aging under Glass..................
Aging in a Bottle 112
An Old Dogma Dies 116
Transplanting Normal Cells 124
Aging Adult Cells 126
Accelerated Aging in a Bottle
Carrel's Mistake 127
Life in the Cold 130
Cellular Memory 130
A Practical Use 131
Cell Aging and Cell Longevity 132
The Latent Period 136
9. The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging...................
Separating Facts from Myths 142
Changes in Appearance 143
Dental Changes 143
Weight and Metabolic Changes 143
Changes in the Cardiovascular System 144
Changes in Reaction Time 144
Cognitive Changes 144
Personality Changes 145
Changes in Sexual Activity 145
Changes in the Senses 146
Physiological Changes 146
Changes in Strength 147
Gender Differences in Aging 147
General Conclusions from the BLSA 148
10. How We Change with Age...............................................
The Cardiovascular System 151
The Immune System 153
The Endocrine System 155
The Female Reproductive System 157
The Male Reproductive System 159
The Skeletal System 160
The Nervous System 161
The Brain 161
11. Aging from Head to Foot.................................................
Height 166
Weight 167
Chest Size 168
Arm Span 168
Face 168
Skull 168
Skeleton 169
Body Composition
Body Water 169
Skin 170
WRlNKLES . SWEAT GLANDS · TEMPERATURE CONTROL .
HEALING CAPAClTY
Fingernails 174
Hair 175
Hearing 176
Taste 177
Smell 178
Sight 179
Sleep 179
Nutrition 18l
Metabolism 182
Capacity for Exercise 184
Chronic Diseases 185
Aging Has Its Compensations 185
PART FOUR: Why Do We Age?
12. Centenarians and Supercentenarians........................
Superlongevity throughout the Ages 190
LUIGI CORNARO AND THE SPARTAN LIFE . DESCARTES AND
BACON . EARLY BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS . SUPERLONGEVOUS
INDIVIDUALS . MODERN SKEPTICISM
Are There Superlongevous People? 196
What about Centenarians? 202
The Increased Likelihood of Reaching Age One Hundred 2a
Some Statistical Characteristics of Centenarians 206
13. Determining Life Span...............................................
How Life Span Relates to Brain Weight and Body Weight 2
Body Temperature and Metabolic Rate 212
Lengthening Life Spans 213
Did Age Evolve? 215
The Importance of Redundancy 216
14. Theories of Aging Based on Purposeful Events.....
Early Ideas About Aging 223
THE "VITAL SUBSTANCE" THEORY · THE GENETIC MUTATION
THEORY . THE REPRODUCTIVE EXHAUSTION THEORY
Why Modern Theories of Aging Are Still Speculative 226
Rules of the Game 228
Is Aging Accidental or Programmed? 229
Aging By Design 229
The Neuroendocrine Theory 231
Down the Brain-cell Drain 233
15. Theories of Aging Based on Random Events.......
The Wear and Tear Theory 236
The Rate of Living Theory 239
The Waste Product Accumulation Theory 247
The Cross-linking Theory 242
The Free Radical Theory 244
The Immune System Theory 248
Theories of Errors and Repairs 250
The Order to Disorder Theory 257
Why Do We Age? 258
A Personal View 259
PART FIVE: Slowing Aging and
Increasing Life Span
16. Early Attempts to Control Aging.....
Should We Try to Cheat Death? 265
Should We to Control Aging? 267
Rejuvenating Substances 269
Alchemy 269
Cavorting 271
Scrotum Hokum and Other Nonsense 272
Cell Therapy 274
Yogurt 274
Sterilization 275
Procaine 276
17. How Exercise, Nutrition, and Weight Affect Longevity
The Effect of Exercise on Aging and Life Span 278
The Longevity of College Athletes 280
The Longevity of Baseball Players 282
The Longevity of Old Athletes 282
Is There an Antiaging Diet? 283
How Does Caloric Restriction Work? 287
Can Humans Increase Their Longevity by Caloric Restriction? 289
Ideal Weight and Longevity 292
18. How Temperature, Light, Transfusions, and Suspended
Animation Affect Longevity..............................................
Temperature and Aging 296
Suspended Animation 298
Cryonics 300
Aging in the Dark 301
Can Transfusions Affect Longevity? 302
19. The Clocks That Time Us.... .......
Our Perception of the Passage of Time 304
Circadian Rhythms 305
Where Is the Clock? 307
Aging Clocks 308
A Sure Way to Slow Aging 308
An Easy Way to Increase Your Longevity 310
PART SIX: The Future of
Human Aging and Longevity
zo. Life Extension and Antiaging Therapies...........
Antiaging Therapies and Profits 314
How Do We Test What Cannot Be Measured? 31S
What Would Happen if We Learned How to Manipulate Longevity? 315
At What Age Are We Most Productive? 316
21. Aging and Longevity in the Twenty-first Century....
The Effect of Genetics on Future Longevity 319
The Effect of Nurture on Future Longevity 321
Twenty-first-Century Demographics 322
Our Future Selves 325
Living the Rectangular Life 330
Can We Extend Our Life Span? 331
Research on Longevity and Aging Today 332
What Should Our Goals Be? 334
No More Aging: Blessing or Nightmare? 336
Immortality 338
The Population Bomb 339
How to Increase Life Expectation 341
