My amazing wife was watching the phenomenon that is KUWTK (that’s keeping up with the Kardashians) on Sunday, and in between the profound cultural and political references (no sarcasm here), there was a scene where the mother of the family was being surprised for her birthday.
Kim (the most famous woman of the family) remarked how her birthday (her 40th) her mother’s, her sisters and her mother’s boyfriend’s birthdays were all in the same month. Her mother’s boyfriend is 25 years her junior and hearing his age surprised me as I would say he looked 50 at least!
It got me thinking about how we see people’s age and how we judge how old we are by our appearance (whether natural or surgically enhanced in the Kardashians case!)
So is ageing just a process that we have to accept and does it mean we have to suffer aches, pains and a rattle as our medication moves around?
Think about people you know and see who are 50+, I can bet they don’t all look the same, do the same activities or have the same medical conditions or ailments.
So what effects the speed and way that we age? Why do some 30 year olds who come into my practice state that they ‘feel 80 years old’?
Genetics? Bad luck? Or lifestyle?
If we start at the beginning, our genetic blueprint allows us to live to a potential 120 years of age (give or take a few years).
Let’s say that we look at the life and health of our body like a photocopier (you know those things that people made copies of their backside at the office party, when you could have those).
How do we ensure that we get the best quality photocopies all the time?
We use quality toner, make sure we have a good power supply, have it serviced regularly and keep it clean.
If we don’t do these things then we would not be surprised if the quality of our copies got worse.
This process is what happens to the cells of our body every second of the day.
We are created by cells replicating (when the tadpole meets the egg and life is created) and this process of cell division goes on until we pass on.
So around 10 million cells die in our body every second. At the same time 10 million are created!
Therefore how we live our life effects how quickly cells die and how quickly they are created. The quality of the cells created will also be heavily effected.
For example when people smoke the cells in the throat change from having hairs on them (to move mucous down the throat) to being a different shape with differing function.
I tend to observe lots of people on practice who’s bodies are essentially ‘switched off’ from healing from past traumas, current lifestyles and future worries.
The cells their bodies are making are already primed for defence or fight/flight.
If we have cause to take X-rays of patients in practice I would say the state of their spine demonstrates how they have dealt with life.
So have a check in of how you eat, think, move and care for your spine. Nobody wants poor quality copies.
As always, take care
Gareth
Dr Gareth Ward Chiropractor
