HS 2211 - Human Anatomy and Physiology Discussion Forum Unit 1 Everything reaches the point where they start to malfunction or be compromised. Just like how buildings or equipment depreciate through time, our bodies also decline as we age. There are many factors that contribute to compromised functioning of our bodies. Two of them are lifestyles and genetics. According to the cross-national study of Zoglio, Currie, and Rasmussen (2004), lifestyle correlates to 60% of related factors to individual health and quality of life. If one's lifestyle involves smoking, alcohol, and lack of exercise, chances of acquiring diseases are greater that may eventually lead to one's body systems malfunctioning. Farhud (2015) stated that "problems like metabolic diseases, joint and skeletal problems, cardio-vascular diseases, hypertension, overweight, violence and so on, can be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle." With this, unhealthy lifestyles can make our bodies decline faster. From our diets and physical activities to substance and medication abuses, they can all contribute to our body systems declining. Another factor that may contribute to our body systems declining is genetics. Jin (2010) explained the "somatic DNA damage theory" where damages in DNA continuously occur in our cells and that some of them accumulate. He also explained that genetic mutations become more rampant as we age that causes cells to deteriorate and malfunction. Kennedy, Loeb, and Herr (2012) further explained that random genetic mutations can result in a decrease in organ function. Our bodies are not perfect and once they reach their peaks and start to decline, we become more vulnerable to many diseases and health problems. Decline of our body systems may be unavoidable but there are things we can do to maintain them to function properly even as we age, especially that technology continues to progress and develop. There are 11 organ systems shown in the readings (OpenStax, 2018). Among these, which do you consider the most vulnerable to damages or from malfunctioning?
References Farhud, D. D. (2015). Impact of Lifestyle on Health. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 44(11), 1442-1444. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4703222/ Jin, K. (2010). Modern Biological Theories of Aging. Aging and Disease, 1(2), 72-74. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995895/ Kennedy, S. R., Loeb, L. A., & Herr, A. J. (2012). Somatic mutations in aging, cancer and neurodegeneration. Mechanisms of Aging and Development, 133(4), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mad.2011.10.009 OpenStax. (2018). Anatomy & Physiology. Houston, TX: Rice University. https://cnx.org/contents/FPtK1zmh@12.6:fEI3C8Ot@16/Preface. Ziglio, E., Currie, C., Rasmussen, V. B. (2004). The WHO cross-national study of health behavior in school- aged children from 35 countries: findings from 2001-2002. (2004). The Journal of School Health, 74(6), 204-206. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2004.tb07933.x