Aging begins as soon as you reach the peak of your performance
curve in your life. In general, men peak their performance curve in their late
twenties, while women peak theirs in their mid-thirties. That may be one of the
reasons why women live longer than men. The performance curve is a turning
point in the body when it just does not grow any more and, instead, starts the
aging process. It is believed that after the age of thirty-five, each biologic
function declines by approximately 5 percent every 10 years. Over time,
deterioration accelerates, resulting in diseases and disorders.
Scientists have striven to measure the rate of aging in humans. They have been able to come up with an average number, but averages cannot take into account the significant variations among individuals; even the variations in the elderly are so great that there is no meaningful average at all. In other words, numbers are not only unreliable but also misleading. A case in point, according to a study at
Does the speed of human aging have to do with genes? Yes, absolutely! But the genetic factor accounts for only about 25 percent of your aging process: the rest has to do with your lifestyle and behavioral choices. The older you are, the more your choices determine how long and how well you are going to live—in other words, the speed of your aging process.
If you wish to live longer with a better quality of life, focus on your lifestyle and behavioral choices. You are your choices, and you become what you choose. Living is all about your choices—a sum of all the good and bad choices you have made. Truly, we all make bad choices every now and then, but there is no reason why we should continue with the bad choices we know we have made. Understandably, you may have the will to make the right choices, but your mind is weak. This is where you need to learn how to harness your brain power to turn things around in your favor.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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