Borrowed Time: The Science of How and Why We Age

by Sue Armstrong

Overview

Uncovering the science behind how and why we age.

The aging of the world population is one of the most important issues facing humanity in the 21st century—up there with climate change in its potential global impact. Sometime before 2020, the number of people over 65 worldwide will, for the first time, be greater than the number of 0–4 year olds, and it will keep on rising. The strains this is causing on society are already evident as health and social services everywhere struggle to cope with the care needs of the elderly.

But why and how do we age? Scientists have been asking this question for centuries, yet there is still no agreement. There are a myriad competing theories, from the idea that our bodies simply wear out with the rough and tumble of living, like well-worn shoes or a rusting car, to the belief that ageing and death are genetically programmed and controlled.

In Borrowed Time, Sue Armstrong tells the story of science's quest to understand ageing and to prevent or delay the crippling conditions so often associated with old age. She focuses inward—on what is going on in our bodies at the most basic level of the cells and genes as the years pass—to look for answers to why and how our skin wrinkles with age, our wounds take much longer to heal than they did when we were kids, and why words escape us at crucial moments in conversation.This book explores these questions and many others through interviews with key scientists in the field of gerontology and with people who have interesting and important stories to tell about their personal experiences of aging.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472936080
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	655,577
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sue Armstrong is a science writer and broadcaster based in Edinburgh. She has worked for a variety of media organisations, including New Scientist, and since the 1980s has undertaken regular assignments for the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS, writing about women's health issues and the AIDS pandemic, among many other topics, and reporting from the frontline in countries as diverse as Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Thailand, Namibia and Serbia. Sue has been involved, as presenter, writer and researcher, in several major documentaries for BBC Radio 4; programmes have focused on the biology of ageing, and of drug addiction, alcoholism, obesity, AIDS, CJD, cancer and stress. Her previous book was p53: The Gene that Cracked the Cancer Code, also published with Bloomsbury Sigma. It has been highly commended by the BMA Book Award.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Chapter 1 What is ageing? 15

Chapter 2 Wear and tear? 29

Chapter 3 Telomeres - measuring the lifetime of cells 39

Chapter 4 Cell senescence - down but not out 51

Chapter 5 Old before their time 65

Chapter 6 Ming the Mollusc and other models 77

Chapter 7 It's in the genes 91

Chapter 8 Eat less, live longer? 107

Chapter 9 The immune system - first responders 119

Chapter 10 The immune system - the specialists take over 127

Chapter 11 The bugs fight back 133

Chapter 12 HIV/AIDS - adding insult to injury 139

Chapter 13 Epigenetics and chronology - the two faces of time 149

Chapter 14 Stem cells - back to fundamentals 157

Chapter 15 Something in the blood? 167

Chapter 16 The broken brain 177

Chapter 17 Alzheimer's disease - the family that led the way 187

Chapter 18 Alzheimer's disease - a challenge to amyloid 197

Chapter 19 It's the environment, stupid 209

Chapter 20 Treat the person, not the disease 223

Chapter 21 Ageing research - from the lab into our lives 233

Notes on sources 247

Acknowledgements 263

Index 265

Editorial Reviews

12/03/2018
Science writer Armstrong (P53: The Gene That Cracked the Cancer Code) illuminatingly surveys research into aging’s biological mechanisms, beginning by revealing that, perhaps startlingly for laypeople, “a growing number of respected scientists... believe that ageing is a disease, and it can be treated.” Armstrong discusses sources of aging on the cellular level, including free radicals, the degradation of telomeres, and cell senescence, noting that none has yet provided the key to “solving” aging. Armstrong devotes much space to one of the most fearsome age-related disorder of all, dementia, discussing attempts to understand and combat Alzheimer’s and similar dysfunctions. Along the way, she profiles a number of fascinating people, leavening the somewhat dense science with human interest, such as leading Alzheimer’s researchers Caleb Finch and Eric Davidson and their time spent collecting traditional music from Appalachia for the Library of Congress. Armstrong also discusses promising possible dementia treatments, including rapamycin, induced pluripotent stem cells, and, possibly most exciting of all, a new application for the common diabetes drug metformin. Without suggesting death can actually be stopped, Armstrong’s work shows that quality of life before the inevitable might very well be significantly improved. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Invigorating.” —Booklist

“As a seventy-five-year-old man I felt oddly rejuvenated by this book. Try it yourself!” —Professor Steve Jones

“Sue Armstrong's book humanely tackles ageing in a way that is grounded, philosophical and makes the most complex science accessible to lay people like me. While not dangling false hopes of innovatory medical cures, it is full of hope about the strides being made in gerontology and pharmacology. And while I may be getting older, the vigour of this book is life-enhancing.” —Claire Fox, Director of the Academy of Ideas and panellist on BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze

“Authoritative, comprehensible and fun to read. The book ageing research has been waiting for.” —Richard Faragher, Professor of Biogerontology at the University of Brighton

“Borrowed Time gives a wonderful overview of the fast-evolving science of longevity. I thoroughly recommend this book as a primer on what will become a key industry in the next two decades or so.” —Jim Mellon, Chairman, Juvenescence Ltd.

From the Publisher

Winter 2018

Science journalist Armstrong (P53: The Gene That Cracked the Cancer Code) presents the state of current research on aging, beginning with the universal hallmarks of getting older—problems that develop with genes and their expression, proteins, nutrient processing, mitochondria, stem cells, and inflammation—and shows how scientists are exploring each in hopes of discovering ways to slow or reverse the aging process. While there are many promising laboratory models for achieving this, most cannot yet be tested on humans. Prescription drugs already on the market for use in other conditions have also demonstrated promise in ameliorating some of these effects in some human patients. Armstrong devotes several chapters to the efforts underway to understand and treat Alzheimer's disease, one of the most feared aspects of aging. VERDICT Armstrong uses an informal style to explain complicated research in lay-friendly terms. Her book will be of interest to everyone who hopes to live a long, healthy life.—Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL

Library Journal