We All Get Older (Hopefully!) Is It Our Age, Our Genes, or Something Else? Do Telomeres "Tell It All"?

As healthcare professionals, we deal daily with "aging"'factors relating to our patients' dental treatment planning (and to ourselves). We are all are expressions of our DNA-the long molecules in our cells' nuclei that contain our genes which determine how proteins will be made to express who we are. Although genetics can be a confusing subject to understand, when trying to understand DNA, perhaps consider that you Do Not Abandon learning some of the basics of genetics. In today's evolving world of medical science, there is a major focus on genetics and genomics; analyzing one's genetic makeup to help in diagnosing and managing disease, and prescribing of medications (pharmacogenetics/pharmacogenomics). One aspect of interest is what we call "aging" or getting older, an expression of cellular "senescence"-most of our cells are programmed to commit suicide (apoptosis) over time. So we get wrinkles, our stomach sags and our hair goes gray. As described below, a normal physiologic process takes place at the end of your chromosomes to protect them. Over many years, this process can no longer protect your chromosomes and the cells die. However, if normal processes are not functioning correctly, the chromosomes continue to reproduce-if this is a cancer cell, the lack of cell suicide allows tumors to grow.