110-502: Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess ' biological immortality ' due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit . Some scientists, futurists and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immortality may be achievable in
220-655: A Yale School of Public Health study. In a UNFPA report about ageing in the 21st century, it highlighted the need to "Develop a new rights-based culture of ageing and a change of mindset and societal attitudes towards ageing and older persons, from welfare recipients to active, contributing members of society". UNFPA said that this "requires, among others, working towards the development of international human rights instruments and their translation into national laws and regulations and affirmative measures that challenge age discrimination and recognise older people as autonomous subjects". Older people's music participation contributes to
330-510: A futurist and transhumanist , stated in his book The Singularity Is Near that he believes that advanced medical nanorobotics could completely remedy the effects of aging by 2030. According to Richard Feynman , it was his former graduate student and collaborator Albert Hibbs who originally suggested to him (circa 1959) the idea of a medical use for Feynman's theoretical micromachines (see biological machine ). Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to
440-476: A "cap" at the end of DNA, are thought to be the cause of cell aging. Every time a cell divides the telomere becomes a bit shorter; when it is finally worn down, the cell is unable to split and dies. Telomerase is an enzyme which rebuilds the telomeres in stem cells and cancer cells, allowing them to replicate an infinite number of times. No definitive work has yet demonstrated that telomerase can be used in human somatic cells to prevent healthy tissues from aging. On
550-449: A biological timetable that might be a continuation of inherent mechanisms that regulate childhood growth and development. This regulation would depend on changes in gene expression that affect the systems responsible for maintenance, repair and defense responses. Factors causing errors or damage include internal and environmental events that induce cumulative deterioration in one or more organs . One 2013 review assessed ageing through
660-559: A broader sense, ageing can refer to single cells within an organism which have ceased dividing , or to the population of a species . In humans, ageing represents the accumulation of changes in a human being over time and can encompass physical, psychological, and social changes. Reaction time, for example, may slow with age, while memories and general knowledge typically increase. Ageing is associated with increased risk of cancer, Alzheimer's disease , diabetes , cardiovascular disease , increased mental health risks, and many more . Of
770-478: A common transition faced by the elderly, may have both positive and negative consequences. As cyborgs currently are on the rise some theorists argue there is a need to develop new definitions of ageing and for instance a bio-techno-social definition of ageing has been suggested. There is a current debate as to whether or not the pursuit of longevity and the postponement of senescence are cost-effective health care goals given finite health care resources. Because of
880-436: A computer system, and exist indefinitely in a virtual environment. This could be accomplished via advanced cybernetics, where computer hardware would initially be installed in the brain to help sort memory or accelerate thought processes. Components would be added gradually until the person's entire brain functions were handled by artificial devices, avoiding sharp transitions that would lead to issues of identity , thus running
990-438: A continuous physical life is to be maintained. This aversion to trauma risk to the brain would naturally result in significant behavioral changes that would render physical immortality undesirable for some people. Organisms otherwise unaffected by these causes of death would still face the problem of obtaining sustenance (whether from currently available agricultural processes or from hypothetical future technological processes) in
1100-466: A copy of the original mind, and not the conscious mind of the living entity associated in such a transfer. Without a simultaneous upload of consciousness, the original living entity remains mortal, thus not achieving true immortality. Research on neural correlates of consciousness is yet inconclusive on this issue. Whatever the route to mind upload, persons in this state could then be considered essentially immortal, short of loss or traumatic destruction of
1210-591: A cyborg. Some people believe that such modifications would make one impervious to aging and disease and theoretically immortal unless killed or destroyed. As late as 1952, the editorial staff of the Syntopicon found in their compilation of the Great Books of the Western World , that "The philosophical issue concerning immortality cannot be separated from issues concerning the existence and nature of man's soul." Thus,
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#17328444524071320-416: A future physical resurrection ), proclaims an amalgamated view of resurrected believers where both the physical and the spiritual are rebuilt in the likeness of post-resurrection Christ, who "will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body" (ESV). This thought mirrors Paul's depiction of believers having been "buried therefore with him [that is, Christ] by baptism into death" (ESV). N.T. Wright ,
1430-407: A large extent, is genetically based. For example, numerous perennial plants ranging from strawberries and potatoes to willow trees typically produce clones of themselves by vegetative reproduction and are thus potentially immortal, while annual plants such as wheat and watermelons die each year and reproduce by sexual reproduction. In 2008 it was discovered that inactivation of only two genes in
1540-637: A living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immortal soul. In the New Testament, the Greek word traditionally translated "soul" ( ψυχή ) has substantially the same meaning as the Hebrew, without reference to an immortal soul. "Soul" may refer either to the whole person, the self, as in "three thousand souls " were converted in Acts 2:41 (see Acts 3:23 ). The Hebrew Bible speaks about Sheol (שאול), originally
1650-409: A lower mortality rate compared to individuals who are not physically active. The majority of the benefits from exercise are achieved with around 3500 metabolic equivalent (MET) minutes per week. For example, climbing stairs 10 minutes, vacuuming 15 minutes, gardening 20 minutes, running 20 minutes, and walking or bicycling for 25 minutes on a daily basis would together achieve about 3000 MET minutes
1760-402: A nanorobotics theorist, suggests tiny medical nanorobots could be created to go through human bloodstreams, find dangerous things like cancer cells and bacteria, and destroy them. Freitas anticipates that gene-therapies and nanotechnology will eventually make the human body effectively self-sustainable and capable of living indefinitely in empty space, short of severe brain trauma. This supports
1870-479: A new creation" , he said. Christian apocrypha include immortal human figures such as Cartaphilus who were cursed with physical immortality for various transgressions against Christ during the Passion. The medieval Waldensians believed in the immortality of the soul. Leaders of sects such as John Asgill and John Wroe taught followers that physical immortality was possible. Many Patristic writers have connected
1980-457: A new tissue or animal without ageing. Normal human cells however die after about 50 cell divisions in laboratory culture (the Hayflick Limit , discovered by Leonard Hayflick in 1961). A number of characteristic ageing symptoms are experienced by a majority, or by a significant proportion of humans during their lifetimes. Dementia becomes more common with age. About 3% of people between
2090-438: A number of mental health issues as older adults deal with challenges such as the death of loved ones, retirement and loss of purpose, as well as their own health issues. Some warning signs are: changes in mood or energy, changes in sleep or eating habits, pain, sadness, unhealthy coping mechanisms such as smoking, suicidal ideations, and others. [1] Older adults are more prone to social isolation as well, which can further increase
2200-495: A safety net that contributes to the postponement of disability and prevention of impoverishment in old age". It has been argued that population ageing has undermined economic development and can lead to lower inflation because elderly individuals care especially strongly about the value of their pensions and savings. Evidence suggests that pensions, while making a difference to the well-being of older persons, also benefit entire families especially in times of crisis when there may be
2310-485: A shortage or loss of employment within households. A study by the Australian Government in 2003 estimated that "women between the ages of 65 and 74 years contribute A$ 16 billion per year in unpaid caregiving and voluntary work. Similarly, men in the same age group contributed A$ 10 billion per year." Due to increasing share of the elderly in the population, health care expenditures will continue to grow relative to
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#17328444524072420-451: A solution to each of these causes, a program de Grey calls engineered negligible senescence . There is also a huge body of knowledge indicating that change is characterized by the loss of molecular fidelity. Disease is theoretically surmountable by technology. In short, it is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism, something the body should not typically have to deal with its natural make up. Human understanding of genetics
2530-430: A specific age for when an individual is allowed or obliged to do particular activities. These age specifications include voting age , drinking age , age of consent , age of majority , age of criminal responsibility , marriageable age , age of candidacy , and mandatory retirement age . Admission to a movie, for instance, may depend on age according to a motion picture rating system . A bus fare might be discounted for
2640-462: A subject of research and debate. Programmed cell death and the telomere "end replication problem" are found even in the earliest and simplest of organisms. This may be a tradeoff between selecting for cancer and selecting for aging. Modern theories on the evolution of aging include the following: Individual organisms ordinarily age and die, while the germlines which connect successive generations are potentially immortal. The basis for this difference
2750-637: A synonym of the grave – the repository of the dead or the cessation of existence, until the resurrection of the dead . This doctrine of resurrection is mentioned explicitly only in Daniel 12:1–4 although it may be implied in several other texts. New theories arose concerning Sheol during the intertestamental period . The views about immortality in Judaism is perhaps best exemplified by the various references to this in Second Temple period . The concept of resurrection of
2860-485: A theologian and former Bishop of Durham , has said many people forget the physical aspect of what Jesus promised. He told Time : "Jesus' resurrection marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return . Part of this will be the resurrection of all the dead , who will 'awake', be embodied and participate in the renewal. Wright says John Polkinghorne , a physicist and a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardware until
2970-469: A week. Exercise has also been found to be an effective measure to treat declines in neuromuscular function due to age. A meta-analysis found that resistance training with elastic bands or kettlebells provided significant improvements to grip strength, gait speed, and skeletal muscle mass in patients with sarcopenia . Furthermore, another analysis found that the positive effects of resistance exercise on strength, muscle mass, and motor coordination reduce
3080-403: Is selected for in evolution. Traits that benefit early survival and reproduction will be selected for even if they contribute to an earlier death. Such a genetic effect is called the antagonistic pleiotropy effect when referring to a gene (pleiotropy signifying the gene has a double function – enabling reproduction at a young age but costing the organism life expectancy in old age) and is called
3190-415: Is a fundamental problem in biology. The Russian biologist and historian Zhores A. Medvedev considered that the accuracy of genome replicative and other synthetic systems alone cannot explain the immortality of germlines . Rather Medvedev thought that known features of the biochemistry and genetics of sexual reproduction indicate the presence of unique information maintenance and restoration processes at
3300-511: Is a state of life that allows a person to avoid death and maintain conscious thought. It can mean the unending existence of a person from a physical source other than organic life, such as a computer. Pursuit of physical immortality before the advent of modern science included alchemists , who sought to create the Philosopher's Stone , and various cultures' legends such as the Fountain of Youth or
3410-406: Is also a state that the gods at times offer humans. In Christianity , the conviction that God may offer physical immortality with the resurrection of the flesh at the end of time has traditionally been at the center of its beliefs. What form an unending human life would take, or whether an immaterial soul exists and possesses immortality, has been a major point of focus of religion, as well as
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3520-481: Is also evidence to suggest that exercise of any type may mitigate the degradation of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) that occurs with age. Current evidence suggests that aerobic exercise causes the most hypertrophy of the NMJ, although resistance training is still somewhat effective. However, further evidence is necessary to identify optimal training protocols for NMJ function and to further understand how exercise affects
3630-459: Is another common visual disease that appears in older adults. Glaucoma is caused by damage to the optic nerve, causing vision loss. Glaucoma usually develops over time, but there are variations to glaucoma, and some have a sudden onset. There are a few procedures for glaucoma, but there is no cure or fix for the damage, once it has occurred. Prevention is the best measure in the case of glaucoma. In addition to physical symptoms, aging can also cause
3740-472: Is credited with lowering the risk of heart disease and early death. The major contributors to mortality risk reduction appear to be a higher consumption of vegetables, fish, fruits, nuts and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as by consuming olive oil. As of 2021, there is insufficient clinical evidence that calorie restriction or any dietary practice affects the process of ageing. People who participate in moderate to high levels of physical exercise have
3850-519: Is gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say, 'Why, this is what we were fed with before,' for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein forever." In contrast, the kafir hold the contradictory notion that they abide in Jahannam perpetually. Angels in Islam are reckoned as immortals from
3960-455: Is given a long life but not immortality or there is more than a little argument stated about the demise of khidr ; however, it is the matter of debate, and there is a fabrication point that goes around the Khidr drank from the fountain of Life , which is thoroughly invalid. Jesus in Islam was summoned to the sky by Allah's sanction to preserve him from the cross and endow him with long life until
4070-433: Is indeed possible for a creature to be biologically immortal , these are animals which are physiologically very different from humans, and it is not known if something comparable will ever be possible for humans. Immortality in religion refers usually to either the belief in physical immortality or a more spiritual afterlife . In traditions such as ancient Egyptian beliefs, Mesopotamian beliefs and ancient Greek beliefs,
4180-731: Is leading to cures and treatments for a myriad of previously incurable diseases. The mechanisms by which other diseases do damage are becoming better understood. Sophisticated methods of detecting diseases early are being developed. Preventative medicine is becoming better understood. Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's may soon be curable with the use of stem cells . Breakthroughs in cell biology and telomere research are leading to treatments for cancer. Vaccines are being researched for AIDS and tuberculosis . Genes associated with type 1 diabetes and certain types of cancer have been discovered, allowing for new therapies to be developed. Artificial devices attached directly to
4290-491: Is not mainly due to increasing demand from ageing populations, but rather has been driven by rising incomes, costly new medical technology, a shortage of health care workers and informational asymmetries between providers and patients. A number of health problems become more prevalent as people get older. These include mental health problems as well as physical health problems, especially dementia . It has been estimated that population ageing only explains 0.2 percentage points of
4400-562: Is of particular concern, particularly in developed countries, while social protection and old-age pension coverage remain a challenge for developing countries, where a large proportion of the labour force is found in the informal sector." The global economic crisis has increased financial pressure to ensure economic security and access to health care in old age. To elevate this pressure "social protection floors must be implemented in order to guarantee income security and access to essential health and social services for all older persons and provide
4510-446: Is over 80 now in 33 countries. Ageing is a "global phenomenon", that is occurring fastest in developing countries, including those with large youth populations, and poses social and economic challenges to the work which can be overcome with "the right set of policies to equip individuals, families and societies to address these challenges and to reap its benefits". As life expectancy rises and birth rates decline in developed countries,
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4620-625: Is the increase in the number and proportion of older people in society. Population ageing has three possible causes: migration, longer life expectancy (decreased death rate) and decreased birth rate. Ageing has a significant impact on society. Young people tend to have fewer legal privileges (if they are below the age of majority ), they are more likely to push for political and social change, to develop and adopt new technologies, and to need education. Older people have different requirements from society and government, and frequently have differing values as well, such as for property and pension rights. In
4730-419: Is warranted in exploiting this property, as exactly this same unbounded growth is a crucial step in enabling cancerous growth. If an organism can replicate its body cells faster, then it would theoretically stop aging. Embryonic stem cells express telomerase, which allows them to divide repeatedly and form the individual. In adults, telomerase is highly expressed in cells that need to divide regularly (e.g., in
4840-667: The Dead Sea scrolls texts. Both Josephus and the New Testament record that the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife , but the sources vary on the beliefs of the Pharisees . The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not. According to Josephus , who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that only
4950-515: The Peaches of Immortality inspiring attempts at discovering an elixir of life . Modern scientific trends, such as cryonics , digital immortality , breakthroughs in rejuvenation , or predictions of an impending technological singularity , to achieve genuine human physical immortality, must still overcome all causes of death to succeed. There are three main causes of death: natural aging , disease , and injury . Such issues can be resolved with
5060-480: The disposable soma effect when referring to an entire genetic programme (the organism diverting limited resources from maintenance to reproduction). The biological mechanisms which regulate lifespan probably evolved with the first multicellular organisms more than a billion years ago. However, even single-celled organisms such as yeast have been used as models in ageing, hence ageing has its biological roots much earlier than multi-cellularity. The Mediterranean diet
5170-533: The hard clam (known as quahog in New England) at 508 years, the Greenland shark at 400 years, various deep-sea tube worms at over 300 years, fish like the sturgeon and the rockfish , and the sea anemone and lobster . Such organisms are sometimes said to exhibit negligible senescence . The genetic aspect has also been demonstrated in studies of human centenarians . Life span, like other phenotypes ,
5280-481: The median age rises accordingly. According to the United Nations, this process is taking place in nearly every country in the world. A rising median age can have significant social and economic implications, as the workforce gets progressively older and the number of old workers and retirees grows relative to the number of young workers. Older people generally incur more health-related costs than do younger people in
5390-583: The nervous system may restore sight to the blind. Drugs are being developed to treat a myriad of other diseases and ailments. Physical trauma would remain as a threat to perpetual physical life, as an otherwise immortal person would still be subject to unforeseen accidents or catastrophes. The speed and quality of paramedic response remains a determining factor in surviving severe trauma. A body that could automatically repair itself from severe trauma, such as speculated uses for nanotechnology , would mitigate this factor. The brain cannot be risked to trauma if
5500-594: The 21st century, one of the most significant population trends is ageing. Currently, over 11% of the world's current population are people aged 60 and older and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that by 2050 that number will rise to approximately 22%. Ageing has occurred due to development which has enabled better nutrition, sanitation, health care, education and economic well-being. Consequently, fertility rates have continued to decline and life expectancy has risen. Life expectancy at birth
5610-693: The Fall , although this initial "imperishability of the bodily frame of man" was "a preternatural condition". Christians who profess the Nicene Creed believe that every dead person (whether they believed in Christ or not) will be resurrected from the dead at the Second Coming ; this belief is known as universal resurrection . Paul the Apostle , in following his past life as a Pharisee (a Jewish social movement that held to
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#17328444524075720-479: The accumulated infirmities of old age, bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel , opines that the pursuit of longevity via the compression of morbidity hypothesis is a "fantasy" and that human life is not worth living after age 75; longevity then should not be a goal of health care policy. This opinion has been contested by neurosurgeon and medical ethicist Miguel Faria , who states that life can be worthwhile during old age, and that longevity should be pursued in association with
5830-506: The advanced industrial societies are already markedly longer than those of the past because of better nutrition, availability of health care, standard of living and bio-medical scientific advances. Technological immortality predicts further progress for the same reasons over the near term. An important aspect of current scientific thinking about immortality is that some combination of human cloning , cryonics or nanotechnology will play an essential role in extreme life extension. Robert Freitas ,
5940-572: The advent of the Dajjal . Dajjal is, additionally, given a long life. Jesus Christ dispatches the Dajjal as he stays after 40 days, one like a year, one like a month, one like a week, and the rest of his days like normal days. The Qur'an states that it is the ultimate fate of all life, including humans , to die eventually. كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ (Every soul will taste death) The traditional concept of an immaterial and immortal soul distinct from
6050-490: The age of 80. This degeneration is caused by systemic changes in the circulation of waste products and by the growth of abnormal vessels around the retina. Other visual diseases that often appear with age are cataracts and glaucoma. A cataract occurs when the lens of the eye becomes cloudy, making vision blurry; it eventually causes blindness if untreated. They develop over time and are seen most often with those that are older. Cataracts can be treated through surgery. Glaucoma
6160-567: The ages of 65 and 74, 19% of those between 75 and 84, and nearly half of those over 85 years old have dementia. The spectrum ranges from mild cognitive impairment to the neurodegenerative diseases of Alzheimer's disease , cerebrovascular disease , Parkinson's disease and Lou Gehrig's disease . Furthermore, many types of memory decline with ageing , but not semantic memory or general knowledge such as vocabulary definitions. These typically increase or remain steady until late adulthood (see Ageing brain ). Intelligence declines with age, though
6270-503: The amount or proportion of telomerase in the body, a naturally forming enzyme that helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes , could prevent cells from dying and so may ultimately lead to extended, healthier lifespans. A team of researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Centre ( Madrid ) tested the hypothesis on mice. It was found that those mice which were " genetically engineered to produce 10 times
6380-512: The annual growth rate in medical spending of 4.3% since 1970. In addition, certain reforms to the Medicare system in the United States decreased elderly spending on home health care by 12.5% per year between 1996 and 2000. Beauty standards have evolved over time, and as scientific research in cosmeceuticals, cosmetic products seen to have medicinal benefits like anti-ageing creams, has increased,
6490-431: The annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana leads to its conversion into a potentially immortal perennial plant. The oldest animals known so far are 15,000-year-old Antarctic sponges , which can reproduce both sexually and clonally. Clonal immortality apart, there are certain species whose individual lifespans stand out among Earth's life-forms, including the bristlecone pine at 5062 years or 5067 years, invertebrates like
6600-433: The attainment of quality of life. Faria claims that postponement of senescence as well as happiness and wisdom can be attained in old age in a large proportion of those who lead healthy lifestyles and remain intellectually active. With age inevitable biological changes occur that increase the risk of illness and disability. UNFPA states that: "A life-cycle approach to health care – one that starts early, continues through
6710-587: The bacterium E. coli may split into distinguishable daughter cells, which opens the theoretical possibility of "age classes" among bacteria. Even within humans and other mortal species, there are cells with the potential for immortality: cancer cells which have lost the ability to die when maintained in a cell culture such as the HeLa cell line, and specific stem cells such as germ cells (producing ova and spermatozoa ). In artificial cloning , adult cells can be rejuvenated to embryonic status and then used to grow
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#17328444524076820-670: The body was not found in Judaism before the Babylonian exile , but developed as a result of interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies . Accordingly, the Hebrew word nephesh , although translated as "soul" in some older English-language Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to "living being". Nephesh was rendered in the Septuagint as ψυχή ( psūchê ), the Greek word for 'soul'. The only Hebrew word traditionally translated "soul" ( nephesh ) in English language Bibles refers to
6930-455: The death of a certain individual, it will be arbitrated consistent with its beliefs as well as actions and will embark on the ever-lasting place where they will abate. The Muslim who holds the five pillars of Islam will make an entrance into the Jannah , where they will inhabit eternally. Al-Baqarah (2:25): "But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion
7040-491: The different stages of gametogenesis . In particular, Medvedev considered that the most important opportunities for information maintenance of germ cells are created by recombination during meiosis and DNA repair ; he saw these as processes within the germ cells that were capable of restoring the integrity of DNA and chromosomes from the types of damage that cause irreversible aging in somatic cells . Chemical Neurological Some scientists believe that boosting
7150-695: The economy in coming decades. This has been considered as a negative phenomenon and effective strategies like labour productivity enhancement should be considered to deal with negative consequences of ageing. In the field of sociology and mental health, ageing is seen in five different views: ageing as maturity , ageing as decline, ageing as a life-cycle event, ageing as generation, and ageing as survival. Positive correlates with ageing often include economics, employment, marriage, children, education, and sense of control, as well as many others. The social science of ageing includes disengagement theory, activity theory, selectivity theory, and continuity theory. Retirement,
7260-417: The emergence of the fungal/animal kingdoms approximately a billion years ago, and the evolution of seed-producing plants 320 million years ago. The sexual organism could henceforth pass on some of its genetic material to produce new individuals and could itself become disposable with respect to the survival of its species. This classic biological idea has however been perturbed recently by the discovery that
7370-424: The entire structure in a computer. What level of detail such scans and simulations would need to achieve to emulate awareness, and whether the scanning process would destroy the brain, is still to be determined. It is suggested that achieving immortality through this mechanism would require specific consideration to be given to the role of consciousness in the functions of the mind . An uploaded mind would only be
7480-431: The existence of biologically immortal species demonstrates, there is no thermodynamic necessity for senescence: a defining feature of life is that it takes in free energy from the environment and unloads its entropy as waste. Living systems can even build themselves up from seed, and routinely repair themselves. Aging is therefore presumed to be a byproduct of evolution , but why mortality should be selected for remains
7590-418: The face of changing availability of suitable resources as environmental conditions change. After avoiding aging, disease, and trauma, death through resource limitation is still possible, such as hypoxia or starvation . If there is no limitation on the degree of gradual mitigation of risk then it is possible that the cumulative probability of death over an infinite horizon is less than certainty , even when
7700-417: The first few decades of the 21st century with the help of certain technologies such as mind uploading ( digital immortality ). Other advocates believe that life extension is a more achievable goal in the short term, with immortality awaiting further research breakthroughs. The absence of aging would provide humans with biological immortality, but not invulnerability to death by disease or injury . Whether
7810-440: The future after cures to the patients' diseases have been discovered and aging is reversible . Modern cryonics procedures use a process called vitrification which creates a glass-like state rather than freezing as the body is brought to low temperatures. This process reduces the risk of ice crystals damaging the cell-structure, which would be especially detrimental to cell structures in the brain, as their minute adjustment evokes
7920-482: The genus Hydra have a regenerative ability by which they avoid dying of old age. Early life forms on Earth, starting at least 3.7 billion years ago, were single-celled organisms. Such organisms ( Prokaryotes , Protozoans , algae ) multiply by fission into daughter cells; thus single celled organisms have been thought to not age and to be potentially immortal under favorable conditions. However, evidence has been reported that aging leading to death occurs in
8030-458: The immortal gods consequently were considered to have physical bodies. In Mesopotamian and Greek religion, the gods also made certain men and women physically immortal, whereas in Christianity, many believe that all true believers will be resurrected to physical immortality. Similar beliefs that physical immortality is possible are held by Rastafarians or Rebirthers . Physical immortality
8140-477: The immortal rational soul to the image of God found in Genesis 1:26. Among them is Athanasius of Alexandria and Clement of Alexandria, who say that the immortal rational soul itself is the image of God. Even Early Christian Liturgies exhibit this connection between the immortal rational soul and the creation of humanity in the image of God. Islamic beliefs bears the concept of spiritual immortality within it; following
8250-408: The immune system), whereas most somatic cells express it only at very low levels in a cell-cycle dependent manner. Technological immortality is the prospect for much longer life spans made possible by scientific advances in a variety of fields: nanotechnology, emergency room procedures, genetics, biological engineering , regenerative medicine , microbiology , and others. Contemporary life spans in
8360-408: The impact on health care demand. The large number of suggestions in the literature for specific interventions to cope with the expected increase in demand for long-term care in ageing societies can be organized under four headings: improve system performance; redesign service delivery; support informal caregivers; and shift demographic parameters. However, the annual growth in national health spending
8470-417: The individual's mind. One idea that has been advanced involves uploading an individual's habits and memories via direct mind-computer interface . The individual's memory may be loaded to a computer or to a new organic body. Extropian futurists like Moravec and Kurzweil have proposed that, thanks to exponentially growing computing power, it will someday be possible to upload human consciousness onto
8580-616: The industry has also expanded; the kinds of products they produce (such as serums and creams) have gradually gained popularity and become a part of many people's personal care routine. The increase in demand for cosmeceuticals has led scientists to find ingredients for these products in unorthodox places. For example, the secretion of cryptomphalus aspersa (or brown garden snail) has been found to have antioxidant properties, increase skin cell proliferation, and increase extracellular proteins such as collagen and fibronectin (important proteins for cell proliferation). Another substance used to prevent
8690-492: The internal processes (epigenetic maintenance such as DNA methylation ) inherently may cause ageing. Programmed ageing should not be confused with programmed cell death ( apoptosis ). Human beings and members of other species, especially animals, age and die. Fungi, too, can age. In contrast, many species can be considered potentially immortal : for example, bacteria fission to produce daughter cells, strawberry plants grow runners to produce clones of themselves, and animals in
8800-452: The lens of the damage theory, proposing nine metabolic "hallmarks" of ageing in various organisms but especially mammals: There are three main metabolic pathways which can influence the rate of ageing, discussed below: It is likely that most of these pathways affect ageing separately, because targeting them simultaneously leads to additive increases in lifespan. The rate of ageing varies substantially across different species, and this, to
8910-447: The machines that maintained them. Transforming a human into a cyborg can include brain implants or extracting a human processing unit and placing it in a robotic life-support system. Even replacing biological organs with robotic ones could increase life span (e.g. pace makers) and depending on the definition, many technological upgrades to the body, like genetic modifications or the addition of nanobots would qualify an individual as
9020-459: The maintenance of interpersonal relationships and promoting successful ageing. At the same time, older persons can make contributions to society including caregiving and volunteering. For example, "A study of Bolivian migrants who [had] moved to Spain found that 69% left their children at home, usually with grandparents. In rural China, grandparents care for 38% of children aged under five whose parents have gone to work in cities." Population ageing
9130-788: The mechanisms that cause NMJ degradation. A meta-analysis showed that loneliness carries a higher mortality risk than smoking. Different cultures express age in different ways. The age of an adult human is commonly measured in whole years since the day of birth. (The most notable exception— East Asian age reckoning —is becoming less common, particularly in official contexts.) Arbitrary divisions set to mark periods of life may include juvenile (from infancy through childhood , preadolescence , and adolescence), early adulthood , middle adulthood , and late adulthood . Informal terms include " tweens ", "teenagers", "twentysomething", "thirtysomething", etc. as well as "denarian", "vicenarian", "tricenarian", "quadragenarian", etc. Most legal systems define
9240-562: The much longer lives of even small mammals, such as the mouse (around 3 years). A model organism for the study of ageing is the nematode C. elegans – having a short lifespan of 2–3 weeks – enabling genetic manipulations or suppression of gene activity with RNA interference , and other factors. Most known mutations and RNA interference targets that extend lifespan were first discovered in C. elegans . The factors proposed to influence biological ageing fall into two main categories, programmed and error-related . Programmed factors follow
9350-435: The normal levels of telomerase lived 50% longer than normal mice". In normal circumstances, without the presence of telomerase, if a cell divides repeatedly, at some point all the progeny will reach their Hayflick limit . With the presence of telomerase, each dividing cell can replace the lost bit of DNA , and any single cell can then divide unbounded. While this unbounded growth property has excited many researchers, caution
9460-458: The other hand, scientists hope to be able to grow organs with the help of stem cells, allowing organ transplants without the risk of rejection, another step in extending human life expectancy. These technologies are the subject of ongoing research, and are not yet realized. Life defined as biologically immortal is still susceptible to causes of death besides aging, including disease and trauma, as defined above. Notable immortal species include: As
9570-482: The perspective of Islam but most people believe is that the angels will die and that the Angel of Death will die, but there is no clear text concerning this. Rather there are texts which may indicate this, and there is the well known hadeeth (narration) about the "trumpet", which is a munkar hadeeth (rejected report). alternatively, Jinn have a long lifespan between 1000 and 1500. In some Muslim Sufi mystics, Khidr
9680-507: The physical body is found in 2 Maccabees , according to which it will happen through recreation of the flesh. Resurrection of the dead is specified in detail in the extra-canonical books of Enoch , and in Apocalypse of Baruch . According to the British scholar in ancient Judaism P.R. Davies , there is "little or no clear reference ... either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead" in
9790-587: The physical manifestations of ageing is onobotulinumtoxinA, the toxin injected for Botox. In some cultures, old age is celebrated and honoured. In Korea, for example, a special party called hwangap is held to celebrate and congratulate an individual for turning 60 years old. In China, respect for elderly is often the basis for how a community is organized and has been at the foundation of Chinese culture and morality for thousands of years. Older people are respected for their wisdom and most important decisions have traditionally not been made without consulting them. This
9900-668: The point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor". The idea was incorporated into Feynman's 1959 essay There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom . Cryonics , the practice of preserving organisms (either intact specimens or only their brains) for possible future revival by storing them at cryogenic temperatures where metabolism and decay are almost completely stopped, can be used to 'pause' for those who believe that life extension technologies will not develop sufficiently within their lifetime. Ideally, cryonics would allow clinically dead people to be brought back in
10010-405: The process of internal immortality is delivered within the upcoming years depends chiefly on research (and in neuron research in the case of internal immortality through an immortalized cell line) in the former view and perhaps is an awaited goal in the latter case. From at least the time of the ancient Mesopotamians , there has been a conviction that gods may be physically immortal, and that this
10120-403: The rate varies depending on the type and may, in fact, remain steady throughout most of the human lifespan, dropping suddenly only as people near the end of their lives. Individual variations in the rate of cognitive decline may therefore be explained in terms of people having different lengths of life. There are changes to the brain: after 20 years of age, there is a 10% reduction each decade in
10230-469: The reproductive years and lasts into old age – is essential for the physical and emotional well-being of older persons, and, indeed, all people. Public policies and programmes should additionally address the needs of older impoverished people who cannot afford health care." Many societies in Western Europe and Japan have ageing populations. While the effects on society are complex, there is a concern about
10340-446: The risk for physical and mental conditions such as anxiety, depression, and cognitive decline. [2] A distinction can be made between "proximal ageing" (age-based effects that come about because of factors in the recent past) and "distal ageing" (age-based differences that can be traced to a cause in a person's early life, such as childhood poliomyelitis ). Ageing is among the greatest known risk factors for most human diseases . Of
10450-602: The risk of falls in the elderly, which is a key factor for living a longer and healthier life. In terms of programming, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. General recommendations for improvements to gait speed, strength, and muscle size for reduced fall risk are resistance training programs with two to three 40-60 minute workouts per week, consisting of 1-2 sets of 5-8 repetitions of 2-3 different exercises for each major muscle group, but individual considerations must be taken due to differences in health status, motivation, and accessibility to exercise facilities. There
10560-447: The risk of fatal trauma in any finite period is greater than zero. Mathematically, this is an aspect of achieving 'actuarial escape velocity' . Biological immortality is an absence of aging. Specifically it is the absence of a sustained increase in rate of mortality as a function of chronological age. A cell or organism that does not experience aging, or ceases to age at some point, is biologically immortal. Biologists have chosen
10670-407: The risk of the person to be declared dead and thus not be a legitimate owner of his or her property. After this point, the human body could be treated as an optional accessory and the program implementing the person could be transferred to any sufficiently powerful computer. Another possible mechanism for mind upload is to perform a detailed scan of an individual's original, organic brain and simulate
10780-401: The roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two-thirds die from age-related causes. Certain lifestyle choices and socioeconomic conditions have been linked to ageing. Current ageing theories are assigned to the damage concept, whereby the accumulation of damage (such as DNA oxidation ) may cause biological systems to fail, or to the programmed ageing concept, whereby
10890-421: The roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two-thirds--100,000 per day--die from age-related causes . In industrialized nations, the proportion is higher, reaching 90%. In the 21st century, researchers are only beginning to investigate the biological basis of ageing even in relatively simple and short-lived organisms, such as yeast . Little is known of mammalian ageing, in part due to
11000-405: The single-cell bacterium Escherichia coli , an organism that reproduces by morphologically symmetrical division. Evidence of aging has also been reported for the bacterium Caulobacter crescintus . and the single cell yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Ageing and mortality of the individual organism became more evident with the evolution of eukaryotic sexual reproduction , which occurred with
11110-869: The solutions provided in research to any end providing such alternate theories at present that require unification. See also: DNA damage theory of aging Aubrey de Grey , a leading researcher in the field, defines aging as "a collection of cumulative changes to the molecular and cellular structure of an adult organism , which result in essential metabolic processes, but which also, once they progress far enough, increasingly disrupt metabolism, resulting in pathology and death." The current causes of aging in humans are cell loss (without replacement), DNA damage , oncogenic nuclear mutations and epimutations , cell senescence , mitochondrial mutations, lysosomal aggregates, extracellular aggregates, random extracellular cross-linking, immune system decline, and endocrine changes. Eliminating aging would require finding
11220-635: The soul was immortal and the souls of good people will be reincarnated and "pass into other bodies", while "the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment." The Book of Jubilees seems to refer to the resurrection of the soul only, or to a more general idea of an immortal soul. Aging Ageing (or aging in American English ) is the process of becoming older . The term refers mainly to humans , many other animals , and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal . In
11330-471: The subject of speculation and debate. In religious contexts, immortality is often stated to be one of the promises of divinities to human beings who perform virtue or follow divine law . Life extension technologies claim to be developing a path to complete rejuvenation . Cryonics holds out the hope that the dead can be revived in the future, following sufficient medical advancements. While, as shown with creatures such as hydra and Planarian worms, it
11440-516: The theory that we will be able to continually create biological or synthetic replacement parts to replace damaged or dying ones. Future advances in nanomedicine could give rise to life extension through the repair of many processes thought to be responsible for aging. K. Eric Drexler , one of the founders of nanotechnology , postulated cell repair devices, including ones operating within cells and using as yet hypothetical biological machines , in his 1986 book Engines of Creation . Raymond Kurzweil ,
11550-528: The time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselves.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death (the Intermediate state ) is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bodies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again embodied and administering Christ's kingdom ." This kingdom will consist of Heaven and Earth "joined together in
11660-467: The total length of the brain's myelinated axons . Age can result in visual impairment , whereby non-verbal communication is reduced, which can lead to isolation and possible depression. Older adults, however, may not experience depression as much as younger adults, and were paradoxically found to have improved mood, despite declining physical health. Macular degeneration causes vision loss and increases with age, affecting nearly 12% of those above
11770-480: The vast majority of speculation on immortality before the 21st century was regarding the nature of the afterlife. The viewpoints of Christianity , Islam , and Judaism regarding the concept of immortality diverge as each faith system encapsulates unique theological interpretations and doctrines on the enduring human nature soul or spirit . Christian theology holds that Adam and Eve lost physical immortality for themselves and all their descendants through
11880-588: The word "immortal" to designate cells that are not limited by the Hayflick limit , where cells no longer divide because of DNA damage or shortened telomeres . The first and still most widely used immortal cell line is HeLa , developed from cells taken from the malignant cervical tumor of Henrietta Lacks without her consent in 1951. Prior to the 1961 work of Leonard Hayflick , there was the erroneous belief fostered by Alexis Carrel that all normal somatic cells are immortal. By preventing cells from reaching senescence one can achieve biological immortality; telomeres,
11990-720: The workplace and can also cost more in worker's compensation and pension liabilities. In most developed countries an older workforce is somewhat inevitable. In the United States for instance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that one in four American workers will be 55 or older by 2020. Among the most urgent concerns of older persons worldwide is income security. This poses challenges for governments with ageing populations to ensure investments in pension systems continues to provide economic independence and reduce poverty in old age. These challenges vary for developing and developed countries. UNFPA stated that, "Sustainability of these systems
12100-410: The young or old. Each nation, government, and non-governmental organization has different ways of classifying age. In other words, chronological ageing may be distinguished from "social ageing" (cultural age-expectations of how people should act as they grow older) and "biological ageing" (an organism's physical state as it ages). Ageism cost the United States $ 63 billion in one year according to
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