《Old before your time》.pdf

2OGEHIRUH\RXUWLPH:KHQ\RXUERG\UHDOO\VWDUWVJRLQJGRZQKLOO 3DJHRI Click here to print health Old before your time: When your body really starts going downhill Last updated at 7:50 AM on 15th July 2008 Theres no denying the ticking of a womans biological clock - but men are not immune, either. French doctors have found that the quality of sperm starts to deteriorate by 35, so that by the time a man is 45 a third of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Here, with the help of leading clinicians, Angela Epstein identifies the ages when different parts of the body start to lose their battle with time. • BRAIN Starts ageing at 20 As we get older, the number of nerve cells - or neurons - in the brain decrease. We start with around 100 billion, but in our 20s this number starts to decline. By 40, we could be losing up to 10,000 per day, affecting memory, co-ordination and brain function. In fact, while the neurons are important, its actually the deterioration of the gaps between the brain cells that has the biggest impact, says Dr Woj tek Rakowicz, a consultant neurologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. KWWSZZZGDLO\PDLOFRXNKHDOWKDUWLFOH2OGWLPH:KHQERG  2OGEHIRUH\RXUWLPH:KHQ\RXUERG\UHDOO\VWDUWVJRLQJGRZQKLOO 3DJHRI We all assume grey hair and wrinkles are the first signs of ageing, but some parts of your body are worn out long before you look old These tiny gaps between the end of one brain nerve cell and another are called synapses. Their j ob is to ensure the flow of information from one cell to another, and as we age we make fewer. • GUT Starts ageing at 55 A healthy gut has a good balance between harmful and friendly bacteria. But levels of friendly bacteria in the gut drop significantly after 55, particularly in the large intestine, says Tom MacDonald, professor of immunology at Barts And The London medical school. As a result,