Are you Ready for Age?
To Age or Not to Age
“I’m just getting old” Is a phrase I often hear, it is said to explain why we can do the things we used to, something close to saying “I’m giving up”, but is this even true?
Yes it is true that age is (for the time being) inevitable, but does that mean we should give up on what we love doing… absolutely not! Do we need to adapt, absolutely we do!
There are a great number of elderly people that still hike mountains, perform marathons, dance… live their best lives. So what is going on at a cellular level? Can we heal and grow at any age?
A recent study looking at stem cell therapy in mice. They took stem cells from young mice and implanted them in older mice and visa versa. So what a happenned? . What they found was the old cell behaved like young cells and were able to build cell damage with ease and again visa versa the young cell when in the older mice behaved older.
The answer is the environment in which the stem cells are placed. What I mean is that stem cells when fed with nutrient and oxygen-rich blood, with a good flow of lymphatic fluid to transport them to where they needed to be was all they needed. So what we need to do to remain young forever, OK, we cant do that but we can help. Eat well and do sensible exercises that make sure the blood can flow around the body to where damaged or developing tissue is.
One of the main principles of osteopathy is, if we improve the blood flow to the cells they will start to grow like seeds in the soil or “watering the withering fields” a famous quote from Dr. A.T Still founder of osteopathy was well aware of the regenerative capabilities of the human body.
But that is precisely what we do, we look at the blood flow to an area of injury free the arteries that lead to it and work the tissue to deliver that blood to where its needed, then all that is needed it time.
The takeaway from this is that if you give your body what it needs your body will take care of you and keep you living your best life well into your twilight years if you want it to.
“The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning.” Carl Jung
Written by Paul Harrison
