Healthy Lifestyle

Growing old is inevitable but stress, smoking, bad diet can lead to premature ageing

Ageing is a normal process of physical change that happens over time. Some people age passively without giving much thought of making conscious, healthy choices to take care of their body and mind. Others tend to be more pro-active.

Normal signs of ageing are generally the same for most people.

Everyone has his or her own ageing timeline, and for the most part, how your body ages depends on many contributing factors.

For instance, genetic patterns of ageing can play a part.

Lifestyle choices can also have a powerful impact on how your body ages. Heavy smokers can accelerate their ageing process by their lifestyle choices. For them, the ageing process can start as early as in the 20s.

On the other hand, a 40-year-old running a marathon can be fit enough to compete with an 18-year-old, said Ms Chew Pei Kiang, a nursing officer with the Health for Life Centre at Alexandra Hospital.

In the skin and eyes

There is no scientifically proven way to determine how the body ages, say most medical practitioners.

“Ageing is the law of nature. I tell my patients that they should age gracefully, and take care of themselves from a young age,” said Dr Lim Litsing, education director at the International Cosmetology Training Institute in Hong Kong.

Ms Chew concurred. “I have 60-year-old patients who ask how they can look youthful. I tell them that it’s dependent on how they view ageing,” she said.

Dr Lim said an experienced cosmetologist could tell if an individual is experiencing ageing by looking at the condition of the person’s skin at the back of the hands or neck.

But he was quick to point out that while there is no scientific basis, experience counts.

Dr Lim, a cosmetologist with a decade of experience, has seen many young girls ? some no older than 20 ? with the hands of a 30- or 40-year-old.

“Their skin texture is dry, with spots and do not have a ‘glow’,” he said. These, he pointed out, are some skin characteristics that older individuals tend to have.

Pollution, eating food that contains too many synthetic chemicals or too much colouring, smoking, excessive alcohol intake and excessive exposure to the sun are some factors that contribute to the diminishing quality of the skin.

Naturopathic physician and clinical director of Natural Therapies Research Centre, Dr Sundardas D A, said that in his practice, there are many parameters of ageing that he would consider.

These include body fat percentage, bone mineral density and blood pressure. Additionally, he said he would look at the quality of the iris as there are some features that can indicate accelerated ageing.

For example, sometimes there will be a sodium ring (a thick white ring) around the outermost zone of the iris. “This is related to arteriosclerosis and hardening of the arteries,” he said.

Or there might be a curved crescent on the top of the iris (otherwise referred to as arcus senilis) that may be indicative of brain fatigue and accelerated brain stress.

It appears as an arc and makes the iris look almond-shaped or oval.

“(This occurs) when blood oxygenation and circulation are poor, and the brain tissues are not getting what they need in (terms of) nutrition. Metabolic waste is not being removed as quickly as it should,” said Dr Sundardas.

He added that this condition is increasingly being found in young people, and regular exercise is needed to get the blood moving and give the brain the oxygen it needs.

“Increased exposure to toxins in water, food and air also increases free radical damage and accelerates ageing.”

A test for ageing?

Dr Frank Shallenberger from the Nevada Center of Anti-Aging Medicine said that he has developed a test to measure a patient’s rate of ageing. The test results tell if their current health programme is working well.

The test, called Bio-Energy Testing, uses US Food and Drug Administration- approved pulmonary gas analyser to determine oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production.

Then, patented computer software uses the data to determine the rate and extent of oxidation, total energy production, fat metabolism and strength.

“It is entirely scientific and completely backed up by both the medical, scientific, and ageing research literature,” he said.

“It is the ultimate tool for slowing down the rate of ageing and preventing disease.”

It is a big claim, so it does not come as a surprise that some may need more convincing.

Ms Chew said preventive health measures such as regular exercise, managing stress adequately and having a healthy diet should be encouraged, rather than persisting in anti-ageing worries. “It’s not about ageing. It’s more about adhering to common-sense knowledge such as making the right lifestyle choices,” she said.