We hear the word "telomere" a lot and often associate it with longevity. What exactly are telomeres? What does it have to do with longevity? Let's let Pai Pai interpret it for you.
Telomeres are a highly repetitive (5'-TTAGGG-3') sequence at the end of eukaryotes' chromosomes. Every time a cell divides, a DNA copy occurs, the telomeres shorten, and the telomeres sacrifice themselves in exchange for the stability of the entire genome. However, telomeres have a length, and when the cell divides to a certain extent, the telomere wear is very serious, and the cell will stop dividing and move towards cell senescence or apoptosis.
So look at it according to this line of thinking: as long as my telomeres are long enough, cellular aging will not catch up with me? But it's not so simple, even if your telomeres are a hundred or even a thousand times that of ordinary humans, the cells will still stop dividing.
Telomeres exist to prevent genome loss caused by the replication process, but humans live in complex environments, and the factors that threaten the stability of the genome are not only replication, but also physical factors (ultraviolet rays), chemical factors (decorative formaldehyde), and biological factors (certain viruses) can damage the stability of the genome. The accumulation of genomic damage also causes cells to stop dividing and lead to aging and apoptosis.
At present, there are nine signs of aging recognized by the academic community, the wear of telomeres is only one of them, telomeres are longer, if the other eight signs pull the crotch, due to the "barrel effect", the life expectancy is still not too long.
So are telomeres really meaningless? Nor is this the case. If it is a single telomere length, it does not mean much, because even two people of exactly the same age can have a large difference in telomere length. But if measured periodically, the resulting telomere length change (shortening rate) is very meaningful, which can reflect your aging rate to some extent.
Therefore, regular monitoring, compared longitudinally with their own past data, is the correct "opening way" for telomere length.
Pay attention to the Time Sect and take you to learn more about health and longevity.