Back to ArticlesWith the improvement in healthcare and living conditions, our life expectancies are increasing and today 125 million people are ages 80 years or older. With an increase in lifespans, comes aging. Aging is a normal part of life and one we can’t escape from.
Obvious signs include the formation of wrinkles, greying hair, posture, as well as the state of our mental wellbeing. However, before all of these, aging begins in the cell. Humans are made up of a multitude of cells (13 trillion). Our tissues and organs are also made of cells.
At some point in your 30’s, signs of aging begin to be apparent. From external signs such as sunspots, your hands starting to appear more veiny and thin, and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles on your face; to internal signs such as muscles losing strength and high blood pressure.
These signs are also a form of premature aging. Premature aging, also known as biological aging, is when a person’s biological age is older than their chronological age. Some causes of this can be:
- Your lifestyle and diet
- Not getting enough sleep, sleeping late
- Not eating breakfast
- Stress
- Lack of exercise
- Smoking
- Too much sun exposure
In layman’s terms, chronological age is your age calculated based on your date of birth while your biological age refers to the age of body cells and tissues.
While we cannot stop the aging process, we can however make lifestyle changes to prevent or reverse “premature” aging. In this way, we’re also able to prevent and reduce the risk for some diseases and conditions that are related to aging such as cancer and stroke.
For women, menopause is part of the aging process – and the risk of diseases such as breast cancer increases too. Women usually start menopause at the age of 51. Apart from the absence of periods, other signs and symptoms of menopause may include:
- Hot flashes
- Dry vagina, making sexual intercourse uncomfortable
- Incontinence, or loss of bladder control
- Trouble getting a good night’s sleep
- Mood changes
- Physical changes in the body – waist gets larger, lose muscle and gain fat
In this article, we’ll discuss ways to reduce the effects of premature aging with a focus on female aging. While it’s true that one cannot stop aging, there are ways to slow down the process and age gracefully.
One may wonder: why is aging gracefully important? Aging gracefully doesn’t necessarily mean growing old with little to no fine lines and wrinkles, but rather it means staying healthy and feeling your best physically and mentally no matter what your age is.
In fact, it’s proven that people who maintain a positive attitude towards aging live longer and recover better from a disability. A study also revealed that those who are physically active and observe a non-sedentary lifestyle are less prone to chronic diseases and early death.
Hence, it is important to observe and practice healthy and holistic living.
Cause, effects, and prevention of aging
1. Normal effects of aging on the body
The body experiences aging both externally and internally and this is displayed in the various signs and symptoms.
So, for women, does the aging symptom of menopause affect the risk of cancer? We discuss this below.
Keep in mind that menopause does not directly cause cancer. However, your risk of developing cancer increases as you age. Thus, women going through menopause have a greater chance of developing cancer because they’re older.
Does the age of menopause affect cancer risk?
When a woman starts menopause after the age of 55, it increases the risk of breast cancer and endometrial cancer, as she’s been exposed to more estrogen.
During a woman’s menstrual cycle, estrogen stimulates the uterus and breast tissue. Hence, the more menstrual periods a woman has, the longer these tissues are exposed to estrogen. Women who start menopause later also may have an increased risk of ovarian cancer, because they have had more ovulations.
Are hormone therapies to manage menopause safe?
Many women might opt for hormone therapy to reduce the symptoms experienced in menopause. As mentioned in the previous article, your body experiences a hormone excess due to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – a treatment that uses estrogens to alleviate menopausal symptoms. This causes hormonal imbalance.
The liver is responsible for controlling and managing various hormones to carry out their functions around the body. If the liver isn’t able to clear out these excess hormones, health problems may occur.
Hence, controlling how much estrogen you take in is important. Ensure you understand the risks before deciding to take them. You can also meet with your doctor or TCM practitioner for advice.
How can women reduce their cancer risk?
Focus on health and wellness. There are various ways for you to do so, including through exercise, a healthy diet, protecting the liver, and more. You may refer to our previous article to know more about this.
2. What is biological aging?
This happens when you gradually accumulate damage to tissues in the body. In other words, our biological age tells us the real state of our cells, technically telling us our real age.
It’s different from chronological aging (which is the number of years you’ve been alive). While chronological aging is irreversible, it is not dependent on lifestyle habits, unlike biological aging.
Why is this important, you may ask? It’s because people with higher biological age than their chronological age are more susceptible to age-related diseases and mortality. Fret not though as you can still improve your biological age — by observing healthy and holistic living.
3. How to age healthily and achieve holistic wellness:
Lifestyle Changes
- Base it on your meridian clock. This clock in TCM shows which meridians and their associated organs and emotions are most active at specific times of the day. Pay attention to this.
- It’s also important to exercise regularly, maintain good sleeping habits, and try breathing exercises.
- Check yourself and see which bad habits you have. Is it smoking? Drinking too much alcohol? Too much screen time?
Diet Changes
- Based on body constitution (an individual’s current body condition that makes them susceptible to certain diseases) which will be covered in the upcoming articles. So be on the lookout for that!
- Your food and diet is also a huge factor as it can play a major key in preventing diseases.
- Remember to keep yourself hydrated as well.
Cell therapy
- This is a type of therapy that introduces new and healthy cells into a patient’s body, which aims to replace the diseased or missing ones.
- Common types of cell therapy are blood transfusion and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (bone marrow transplantation)
- There are also available cell rejuvenating products that can be used, usually targeting the skin for anti-aging purposes
Others
- TCM treatments such as meridian massage through gua sha, or a technique that uses a tool to scrape the skin to relieve muscle pain and tension.
- Hair combing, or shu fa, is a practice in TCM that’s also believed to improve one’s health. The method includes self-massage and particular movements to regulate the meridians and harmonise the functions of the internal organs, ultimately preventing disease
- Body detox
- Mindset/emotion management, including meditation, laughing, yoga, active listening, lifelong learning
Health and wellness begins with your mindset
Aging is a natural part of life and is an inevitable process. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. You can slow down premature aging by making a conscious effort to have a healthy and holistic lifestyle. It all starts with your mindset, ultimately affecting the choices you make.
To kickstart your journey to health and wellness, visit our website. We upload regular articles to help readers gain insight into holistic living.
