Page 45 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power
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CHAPTER 3
How Aging Affects Your Memory
If a young or middle-aged man, when leaving company, does not recollect where he laid his hat, it is
nothing; but if the same inattention is discovered in an old man, people will shrug up their shoulders
and say, “His memory is going.”
— SAMUEL JOHNSON
AGE-RELATED MEMORY LOSS occurs in all mammals, from mice to humans. Research has narrowed
down the myriad biological theories of aging into a few that are backed by scientific evidence:
genetically programmed cell death, disruption of biological clocks, and free radical toxicity.
Programmed Death of Cells
The theory of programmed cell death states that every cell in the body is genetically programmed to
die at a certain point in time, and that this time frame is specific for each type of cell. Many cells in
the body regularly die, but other reproducing cells make up the deficit. Erythrocytes, or red blood
cells, that carry hemoglobin have an average life span of only 120 days, but stem cells in the bone
marrow continually develop into new erythrocytes and enter the bloodstream to
