In article “What Happens As We Age?”, we discussed the changes that occur in our bodies as we age, and why they happen. But is there anything that can be done to help slow down these changes? Or to live a healthy lifestyle, free of the diseases that seem inherent with aging?

While there is no magic formula that prevents aging, there are things that can be done to help maintain good health and to slow down some of the changes that can occur. And we now know that the earlier in life that some of these lifestyle changes are adopted, the better the chance for good health at any time, including the decades after age 50.

1) Exercise: Although we tend to lose muscle mass as we grow older, and muscle converts to fat, science has shown that this occurs much more quickly in those who are sedentary (inactive). Much of the loss of muscle mass and tone that occur with aging can be combated with a regular program of exercise that includes both an aerobic component and muscle strengthening exercises.

Aerobic exercise increases blood flow to the brain, and may help with maintaining cognition and fighting the intellectual decline that occurs in old age. Exercise can also contribute to a healthier cardiovascular system and prevent bone loss due to osteoporosis.

People who exercise tend to sleep more deeply than those who don’t. This is important for the elderly, since as we age we tend to sleep less deeply.

It’s important to realize, though, that exercise alone will not combat the effects of aging. It is only one part of a healthy lifestyle that integrates several factors that are discussed below.

2) Good Nutrition: This is another key to maintaining good health at any age. Certain foods are associated with antioxidants, which help to “clean up” the free radicals that our cells are exposed to as a byproduct of metabolism. Vitamins C and E are an example of antioxidants, and fresh fruits and vegetables contain these and other disease fighting nutrients. To help stave off some of the effects that are often associated with aging and maintaining optimum health, experts recommend eating at least five servings a day of fresh fruits and vegetables, and including whole grains in the diet.

Increasing fiber in the diet can help prevent constipation, and it is important to include plenty of water to prevent dehydration (our bodies lose water as we age). As we age, our metabolism slows down and most people need fewer calories to maintain their weight. Maintaining a normal body weight can help prevent the diseases associated with obesity and insulin resistance.

3) Avoid Too Much Sun: Exposure to the ultraviolet rays in sunlight can cause damage to the cornea and lens of the eye, and cause skin damage (including cancer). Wearing a good sunscreen, protective clothing, and UV filtering sunglasses can help to slow down this process.

4) Relaxation and Stress Reduction:: Stress can cause illness and depression and accelerates the aging process, increasing the wear and tear on all organs including the brain. Learning stress reduction techniques can help with improving outlook, staying healthier and feeling younger.

Long-term planning for financial needs after retirement (the elderly often cite financial worries as being a major stressor) and maintaining a positive outlook can help. Hobbies and activities that relieve stress, whether gentle yoga, meditation, or prayer can all contribute to a healthier life and an increased life span.

5) Quit Smoking: The damaging effects of smoking have been demonstrated in numerous studies. It robs our bodies of vital nutrients, causes arteries to constrict, and contributes to high blood pressure, heart disease, and lung disease. And most significantly, smoking shortens the life expectancy. Stopping smoking can reverse many of these health hazards, and contribute to longer and healthier life.

6) Don’t Drink Too Much: If a person does drink, moderation is important, and never drive when drinking. Also, as a person ages, their ability to tolerate alcohol goes down and can contribute to falls or accidents in some cases.

7) Stay Involved: People with a good support system of family and friends, and who maintain an active lifestyle through either work, hobbies, or volunteer activities maintain both mental keenness and enjoy life more throughout their lifespan. Involved people look and feel younger, and they have an increased self-esteem as they contribute to society and those around them.

8) Get Enough Sleep: Sleep deprivation studies have shown that the effects of losing even a few hours of sleep each night can mimic some of the changes associated with aging, such as insulin resistance and elevated cortisol levels in the afternoon. Researchers feel that a minimum of 8 to 9 hours sleep is important for good health.

The quality of sleep is important, too. Sleeping in an environment conducive to good rest, moderate exercise during the day, and treatment of depression and stress management can all help with getting better, deeper sleep at night.

Following the above tips and recommendations is not a guarantee that you can run a marathon at age 80 (although some people do!), but they do increase the chances of a healthier body and mind at any age. The decline associated with aging can be slowed and even reversed in some cases with good nutrition, exercise, and other healthy measures, so that life can be enjoyed more at any age.

Older and wrinkled skin can benefit very positively from the biological effects of HGH. Amino acids, the building blocks, can be stimulated to form a mixture of proteins. The aerial admeasurements of skin is made from proteins. Collagen is a protein substance which plays a vital role in healthy skin rejuvenation. HGH helps to stimulate the production of collagen; therefore, it is helpful in the general rejuvenation of aging skin. HGH also stimulates added fat. As we grow older, we experience weight gain in specific areas of the body. This sort of unequal weight distribution can cause stress to the skin. By assisting with the breakdown of fat, HGH supports the skin and helps it maintain a vibrant appearance.

HGH is also able to help renew the animal body in other ways. The degradation of added proteins on the fibers of the anatomy of altered genitalia of the body is stimulated by this basic hormone. The result is better, thicker fibers in the skin, which can hurry the infirmity that can come with increasing age. On the other hand, HGH can cause a breakdown of calcium in the bones. The result is building stronger bones. As we age our bones get weaker, something that is known as osteoporosis. HGH has been known to advance osteoporosis in older people.

People who want to stave off wrinkling and the other effects of aging can find ample forms of HGH supplementation. Both herbal and pharmaceutical HGH boosters may be used to increase the pituitary gland’s production of HGH. HGH has a positive effect on wrinkles regardless of whether you choose to enhance your own, natural HGH production or take a supplement.

Human growth hormone (HGH) is among the most effective anti-aging formulations in the battle against wrinkles. HGH can be very effective against the ravages of aging; however, it is important to note that it can have negative, and even toxic, effects in combination with some substances.

The human body is a complex organism, with literally millions of delicately balanced and complex chemical reactions that sustain life and growth. Much of the growth and renewal in our bodies comes from the genetic code stamped into each of our cells, as well as our individual metabolism.

These differences can determine how long we live and how well we age, our predisposition to certain diseases as we grow older, and how well we heal, to name a few factors. In this article, we will be looking at how we age, and some of the normal and abnormal changes that can occur.

Normal Changes That Occur As We Age
As we age, there are changes that will occur as the decades pass. Scientists are still studying these changes and exactly why they occur. Some of these changes include:

Memory and Cognition:
By the age of 50 or 60, small changes in overall intellectual functioning begin to be noticed. These are usually covered by a still intact verbal ability, and are usually not intrusive. But by age 75, in some individuals cognitive loss can be much greater, and may not be covered for as well.

Normally, verbal skills will remain untouched until we reach our eighth decade when they also begin to decline, although this is individual and varies greatly from person to person. People tend to rely more on “crystallized” intellectual functions (abilities “burned into” our memories by repetition that were learned earlier in life) as they age. But intellectual functions that involve complex abilities such as abstract reasoning or solving difficult problems is less efficient as the decades pass, in part because as we grow older, the speed that neurons transmit information slows down. This means that processing the information becomes less efficient over time.

Reaction times also slow, making driving more difficult. Long term memory stays with us though, and is more easily accessed than short term memory as we age.

Skeletal/Muscle:
Our strength and muscle mass peaks between the ages of 20 and 30, and then begins a gradual decline. This process can be accelerated by an inactive lifestyle. The small hand muscles also waste, and numbness can occur in the toes and fingers in elderly people. Arthritis can occur which makes bending, turning, or standing up more difficult.

Our brain mediated sense of balance remains, however, throughout the life span if illness is not present.

By age 40, the waist size begins to increase as muscle converts into fat which becomes centralized around the torso, while muscle wasting occurs in the legs and arms. And by age 60, the height begins to shrink as gravity causes vertebral compression..

Cardiovascular/pulmonary/GI
There is a gradual decline in the lung capacity and cardiac capacity as we age after the age of 30 to one half of their capacity by age 60. The cardiac stroke volume and rate go down as the years continue. This process is more rapid in individuals who are sedentary.

The emptying of the stomach is delayed in the elderly person, and the muscles in the intestines that move food through it for digestion also slow down as we age. Albumin (blood protein) levels drop as we become older.

The kidneys and liver functions begin to decrease, and medications cannot be cleared as easily in the older person, making a toxic reaction or side effects more common. The percent of our bodies made up of water decreases as we age.

Skin/hair
Our skin begins to wrinkle in response to a loss of the subcutaneous fat layer, and the weakening of the underlying collagen structure. Hair becomes thinner and begins to gray as well.

Vision and Hearing
By about age forty, our eyes begin to lose the ability to accommodate, or to reshape the lens to focus on nearby objects. This is in part due to the fact that the lens, which is normally clear and flexible at birth, begins to harden and grow yellow over time. This loss of flexibility can contribute to presbyopia, or the need for reading glasses during middle age.

We also begin to lose the ability to look upwards as we age. By age 30, hearing begins to be affected, and the ability to distinguish sounds can diminish as time goes on.
Smell/taste
There is a gradual loss in the sense of smell and taste over time, with difficulty in distinguishing nuances.

Pathological (Illness Related) Changes
At the turn of the century, most deaths were caused by infectious diseases: tuberculosis and pneumonia together were responsible for one fifth of all deaths. Infant mortality was also higher in 1900, when one out of four infants would not live to the age of 5. In the past decade, 99% of all children born in the U.S. lived to enter kindergarten, and 53 % of deaths occuredr in people age 75 or older. And now, at the start of the new millennium, two thirds of the deaths in the United States are caused by three diseases often associated with aging: heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Heart Disease and Stroke
Heart disease and stroke are both manifestations of cardiovascular disease. The causes of this disease that creates clogging of the interior of arteries with plaque, or fatty and calcified material are complex. Diet and cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, free radicals, sedentary lifestyle, and changing hormone levels as we age have all been discussed as possible causes by researchers. Current research is looking into methods of preventing or delaying the onset of these diseases, as well as the early recognition and improved treatment of those affected.

Cancer
Research has unraveled some clues as to why certain cells in the body begin to proliferate and cause what is called cancer. We now know that genetics may play a role, and that as we age, our ability to both fight off these cancerous cells, as well as damage from a lifetime of exposure to substances such as free radicals and other toxins may all play a part in its genesis. Most importantly, scientists are using this increased knowledge to develop new medications and treatments that target the immune system, or that target cancer cells specifically while leaving normal cells alone.

Alzheimer’s Disease
Scientists are now beginning to find out some of the mechanisms that underlie Alzheimer’s disease. Nerve cells slowed or affected by clumps of beta amyloid plaques and tangles of tau proteins start to lose their function.

Another protein that is involved in moving cholesterol, ApoE, may also be involved in the development of beta amyloid plaques.

Current research in the battle against Alzheimer’s is directed at substances that can overcome the effects of both tau proteins and ApoE formation. A possible vaccine that may stop the formation of plaques and tangles, and inhibitors that fight against the formation of beta amyloid plaques are also being developed.

More controversial research is looking at stem cells (embryonic cells that later differentiate into organ cells) as one treatment. These embryonic precursor cells may have the ability to turn into neural tissue and could help regenerate damaged neural tissue.

Some people say that these HGH enhancers are not effective since they do not include growth hormone. Some people are unhappy with the slow outcomes as well as the nonexistent “Wow” effect. Frequently people just do not have the patience to wait for an enhancing product to provide its effects. They are interested in seeing results right away. Some people may be turned off by the taste of the sprays and drops as well as the size of the pills available for more comprehensive formulas.

Including essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in human growth hormone enhancers offers increased support for the correct functioning of the pituitary and hypothalamus as well as other bodily organs. The extra ingredients also help to support the increased muscle mass acquired via a proper nutritional program and exercise regimen.

Utilizing HGH enhancers along with a solid nutritional plan and exercise routine may assist you in realizing your goals. However, it is important to understand that there is not much scientific research that supports the benefits of HGH enhancers, releasers and other products that are currently on the market. So if you would like to give them a try, be sure to check with your physician first and select a top quality product from a company that you trust.

Some of the many benefits of increased growth hormone include lower body fat, improved lean muscle mass, denser bones, firmer skin, and countless others. Improvements are apparent when taking HGH hormone releasers, similar to HGH injections. This is a great alternative as it is not costly, and there are hardly any side effects. HGH releaser can be effective for many people, including athletes looking for a natural and legal boost, or a middle-aged person hoping to slow down the aging process.

You will likely see results more slowly than with growth hormone injections, possibly taking months to be fully effective. The taste of the sprays can be hard to become accustomed to and the pills are often too big to swallow with ease.

Found in our bodies already, combinations that are natural, containing vitamins and amino acids, make up HGH releasers. Because your body won’t cease its natural production when you use an HGH hormone releaser, the benefit is that your body won’t just “crash” when you stop using supplements. The body often slows production or even stops entirely when a hormone is injected or delivered by other methods. This creates a large drop in the level of hormones within the body if there is not a gradual decrease in hormones provided. When you use HGH releasers, your body actually produces the hormone rather than having it introduced through other means. If you cease taking the supplement, the body will produce progressively less, bringing it back to the level prior to taking the supplements.

Your body will be stimulated to produce more growth hormone with HGH hormone releasers. Although the results take longer to go into effect compared to injections, the lower incidence of side effects along with lower cost, make them a very attractive option for people who want the benefits of growth hormone therapy.

There is a dark side to anti aging injections, and the prick of the injection is only the start of the story. In the United States, the hormone has not been approved for this purpose and is referred to as an “off label” application. In some areas, this may actually be against the law. It is also against the law to receive injections from any person who is not an M.D. It comes as no surprise that the injections are quite costly, so only the well-to-do can afford them. Last of all, some worrisome side effects can occur when anti aging HGH therapy is administered, especially when the blood level of the hormone is greater than that which normally occurs in the blood. The anti aging HGH product argument is strengthened by these disadvantages.

The hormone treatment has been cleverly modified due to efforts to deal with the dark side of anti aging HGH therapy. Most of the HGH products currently available are formulas that have been developed to stimulate the human pituitary gland to boost its own production of the hormone. No injections are required with these products; they prevent the possibility of too much HGH circulating through the system, and they are much cheaper. Although one does not see results that are as significant with this kind of therapy as those seen when an injection is used, this approach is definitely less risky. Many who are in favor of using HGH as an anti aging product feel that this is an acceptable compromise. But there are still doubts with regard to the actual positive results of anti aging HGH therapy.