Molecular and Clinical Aspects in The Concept of Healthy Ageing

Both enthusiasm and concerns are raised considering that people worldwide are living longer. As the pace of population ageing is much faster than in the past, major challenges are posed for most of the countries: health is essential, yet there is little evidence that the quality of life is significantly better for the contemporary elderly. A healthy ageing is defined as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age. Many studies are focusing to the research of the telomeres and telomerase, which proved to bring hope for a healthy ageing. At cellular lever, there are many changes associated with the process of senescence, including genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, mitochondrial dysfunction, altered intercellular communication, stem cell exhaustion. Among these hallmarks of aging, probably the one that received the biggest attention in the recent years is telomere attrition. Multiple studies has shown correlations between the presence of short telomeres and premature onset of diseases normally occurring at advanced age, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, aplastic anemia. The effects that certain lifestyles may have upon health and longevity of individuals may be associated to accelerated telomeres shortening, that may lead to an early onset of age-associated diseases. Although there is substantial evidence that links the biology of telomeres with the process of aging, the molecular mechanisms are complex, which led to some contradictory study findings. Of the few strategies available that target the implication of telomeres biology in aging and disease, a number of products that are associated with an enhancing of telomerase function are used. Among these, cycloastragenol, has been shown to activate telomerase and elongate telomeres.