Maintaining life
I have a dream. I travel there for a long time, traveling around the world, full of energy and energy and in the best of health, as a retiree. Then I wake up and wonder: how can I make this dream come true? What do I have to do, so that everyday life leaves as few traces as possible, graciously deals with my body and my mind?
Life expectancy is increasing continuously, statistically every year by three months. Already today we live longer than ever before in the history of humanity. And if we believe scientists studying aging, the limit has not yet been reached. We could be 1000 years old, promises Aubrey de Gray from Cambridge, director of the Methusalah Foundation, and the most dazzling personality among biogerontologists - if he eventually manages to translate his seven strategies to fight aging - SENS for short - into medical technology.
Aging as a troublesome, but basically reparable disease. True, this notion of the eccentric British smiles on serious age researchers. But There is hardly any doubt that we could reach 120 to 140 years. According to the Robert Koch Institute, girls who were born last year will already have an average life expectancy of 100 years.
A good perspective. However, as spectacular as the scientists want to tell us, this new age-sounding limit is not. For 2500 years ago, it was considered quite achievable in ancient China. Assuming you followed some rules. "Yangsheng" is the Far Eastern teaching of "life care", for the preservation of health, strength and well-being. And the recommendations that are given in it are highly topical.
Since the emergence of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the methods that "nourish life" are an important pillar in the overall concept. The goal is to balance body, mind and soul and to live in harmony with the environment. Then the life energy is always well fed, does not exhaust itself so fast and can flow unhindered through the body. This helps us to stay healthy, to feel well and to live long lives.
This is to be achieved through nutritional therapy - for example, the "Five Elements Diet" - Qi Gong with movement and breathing exercises, the power of the mind, meditation and a moderate lifestyle in harmony with our environment.
"Yangsheng helps to maintain one's own strength, to come to oneself and to develop a good feeling for one's own body in order to recognize illnesses at an early stage," says Dr. Yangsheng. Ute Engelhardt, Sinologist and Vice President of the International Society for Chinese Medicine (SMS) from Munich. "Yangsheng could therefore be seen as an early form of anti-aging, but you do not throw a pill, you do something yourself."
The exciting thing is that what Chinese doctors long ago advised on the basis of their wealth of experience in order to stay healthy and healthy for a long time, is now also recommended by Western medical specialists - adapted to modern living conditions. And scientific studies confirm it. Thus, regular exercise in the form of endurance training can slow down the aging processAs has been shown since 1984 ongoing study of Stanford University now.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge recently found out in the large-scale Epic Norfolk study: If you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables in addition to exercise, low drinking and abstaining from smoking, statistically can gain 14 years of life. Be younger than your true age - just by having a different lifestyle.
Small changes, big impact? Absolutely. Because that our body's own "repair service", which uses stem cells to retread 90 percent of our tissue on a regular basis, at some point his service acknowledged and we age depends in large part on six "letters": TTAGGG. This is the final sequence of base pairs, which, to protect the genome, repeats itself at the end of our chromosomes, many thousands of times in young cells. With each cell division, however, several of these sequelae are lost, the whole end of the genetic code, called Telomer, shrinks more and more. At some point it is used up and cell division is no longer possible because otherwise the "real" genetic material would be attacked. For the body the sign to end the reproduction process. The cell ages and dies.
Thus, the dwindling telomeres gradually stop the renewal potential of the skin, bones and organs. This process could be halted by only one enzyme, telomerase, which adds new six-letter sequences to the chromosome tails. The problem: "Telomerase also has a negative side, especially in cancer cells.She holds the telomeres there long, making the cells immortal, "says Spanish molecular biologist Dr. Maria Blasco Search for remedies that make body cells more durable, she has received this year's Körber European Science Award. "But until a substance is found that activates telomerase in humans where we want it," says Blasco, "it can take another 20 years."
But we do not have to wait that long, we can do something now. In fact, research into telomeres has shown that UV radiation, alcohol, nicotine, environmental toxins, unbalanced nutrition and constant overloading contribute to the protective end pieces shrinking faster. Because of these external influences arise free radicals, which affect the metabolism in the cells unfavorable. Those who, as the scientists say, avoid "oxidative stress" through a healthy lifestyle receive valuable letter sequences at the chromosome end.
And, "Even if they are just one factor," says Maria Blasco, "Long telomeres are definitely helpful for a long life." So these tails are already considered a good marker for the biological age of a human. And that does not necessarily have to match the age in the passport! So the healthier you live, the longer the telomeres - and thus the lifetime.
Thus, Western research ultimately confirms the experience of the Chinese Yangsheng. The sympathetic thing here: Living healthy to take care of life does not automatically mean sacrifice and asceticism. "In TCM you should not do anything," says Dr. Ilse-Maria Fahrnow, a doctor, psychologist and expert on five-element nutrition from Utting am Ammersee. "It's less about the latest moods of taste than good body awareness, where everyone follows their original instincts, and that's what's good." The search for it also a life task.
But no matter what you do, it is always important to find Zhong Yong, the "golden mean". The right measure for everyone personally. Measures instead of spending, preserving instead of wasting. Not too hot, not too cold. Balance and harmony - whether it's nutrition, exercise, alcohol, sleep, emotions or sex.
Today's conventional medicine recommends something similar to health care, albeit soberer, less well-fed. Instead of "Brokatübungen" is there from jogging to pulse rate, instead of "energized food" of five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. For many, the Far Eastern variant sounds more appealing, more attractive to many in our multicultural society.
But does cooking in the "feeding cycle" really bring us more than a balanced local mixed diet? Is Qi-Gong more effective than walking or cycling? A difficult question, especially from the perspective of conventional medicine. East-West comparisons are difficult because of the different concepts. However, numerous studies have shown that qigong exercises reduce stress, calm, strengthen the immune system and even favorably influence blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. "Qi-Gong is not a miracle weapon that solves all problems, but a wonderful way to maintain vitality and wellbeing," says Dr. Johann Bölts, who has been running the Traditional Chinese Cure and Therapeutic Concepts (PTCH) project at the University of Oldenburg for 20 years.
Finally, there are several ways to keep our telomeres as long as possible. Everyone has to decide for themselves what is good and consistent. "It's always worthwhile to take care of life," says Dr. Anna Paul, who is responsible for order therapy at the Essen Mitte Hospital. And for mind-body medicine, which - as she says - "updated form of life-care".
For centuries, this idea was also anchored in the Western tradition, before it was replaced by the science-oriented conventional medicine with its repair ideas. It is only recently that both concepts have been brought together again in holistic integrative medicine. Slowly we remember that a healthy, positive, balanced and mindful lifestyle makes us physically and emotionally more stable. We value our lives again. As a result, not every illness is completely prevented, but complaints can, according to Anna Paul, cope better, the resistance is greater, the quality of life increases. The joie de vivre as well. And that is the best prerequisite for a fulfilled, contented life - even if it does not last forever.
