Key result
Aging is proposed to be driven by the continuous impairment of the microcirculation, leading to the accumulation of toxic products and loss of nutrition and oxygen in tissues and organs.
Why the study?
Existing theories that attempt to explain the aging process do not seem to fully satisfy.
This paper proposes a novel theoretical framework suggesting that progressive microcirculatory impairment is the fundamental driver of the aging process.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Proposes microcirculatory impairment as core aging driver; hypothesis-generating and untested for clinical translation.
Aging is the progressive decline of physiological functions necessary for survival and reproduction. In gaining a better understanding of the inevitable aging process, the hope is to preserve, promote, or delay healthy aging through the treatment of common age-associated diseases. Although there are theories that try to explain the aging process, none of them seem to fully satisfy. Microcirculation describes blood flow through the capillaries in the circulatory system. The main functions of the microcirculation are the delivery of oxgen and nutrients and the removal of CO₂, metabolic debris, and toxins. The microcirculatory impairment or dysfunction over time will result in the accumulation of toxic products and CO₂ and loss of nutrition supplementation and O₂ in corresponding tissue systems or internal organs, which eventually affect normal tissue and organ functions, leading to aging. Therefore, I propose a microcirculatory theory of aging: aging is the process of continuous impairment of microcirculation in the body.
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Kunlin Jin (2019) conducted a review in Aging. Microcirculatory impairment was evaluated. Aging is proposed to be driven by the continuous impairment of the microcirculation, leading to the accumulation of toxic products and loss of nutrition and oxygen in tissues and organs.
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