Arguing for a Rate of Living View of Aging

The rate of living view of aging is one of the discarded historical hypotheses that occurred along the way to the modern competing ideas about why aging occurs, and why there are differences in longevity between species. Roughly, the rate of living hypothesis says that a faster metabolism means a shorter life, that underlying processes (such as accumulation of molecular damage) depend strongly on metabolic rate. This doesn't appear to be the case, however; setting aside more detailed considerations, there are enough exceptions to the rule, species with high metabolism and exceptional longevity, to sink the argument. It isn't just metabolic rate that determines species longevity. In today's single author paper, rate of living sidles back into the picture via a more complicated relationship between energy metabolism, body mass, temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate. Species across a wide range of sizes and metabolic rates all come decently close to conforming. So perhaps this scientist is on to something, and one will find that these aspect of physiology correlate quite well to the pace of creation of important forms of molecular damage in aging, or, alternatively, exceptions will be found and this will go the way of the original rate of living theory. Either way, the data is the data, and it is an interesting read. Universal relation for life-span energy consumption in living organisms: Insights for the origin of aging It is natural to try to ass...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs