This is fascinating. I can't imagine any "fountain of youth" business that we could stand to gain but we COULD get an idea of what actually causes aging from this, and narrow down the sources of diseases that do come from age. I also can't help but wonder what is going on in her mind. I couldn't watch the video at the end but I really want to know - is she actually like a normal five year-old, mentally? Does she have the same capacity for abstract thought, or factual knowledge? What is her learning like? Does she attend school? I must admit this is the first I've heard of her, and I want to understand better so I am not ignorant of what she is like, and what her condition actually entails. Her constant health conditions early in life sound tragic but I'm impressed with how she bounced back. Could those health concerns have caused her current condition, or triggered it? I presume she "ages" in a way that she may, in fact, die of old age, because the alternative is TOO fantastic to believe (fantastic in the unrealistic sense, not that it's such a wonderful or good thing).
It is really interesting that her telomeres are shortening at a normal rate. Most scientists think that is the root cause of aging at a cellular level. Walker et al. 2009
I find the telomere hypothesis to be a bit silly. There isn't a thing (molecular biologically speaking) that causes aging. There is, however, entropy. Organisms are far too ordered to stayed sable for a long period of time. My guess is that the degradation of organisms is general and protracted, and not due to one or several molecular processes.
I'm not saying that telomeres are the only thing that cause aging. But there is an important association between cellular degradation and reduction of telomeres. I'm just surprised that hers are shortening at a normal rate, I would have expected some deviation from the normal rate. I agree with your point re: entropy.
Yeah! I couldn't believe that part. It throws out the window one of the strongest pieces of evidence for aging we knew about!
I cringe when I hear questions like "Do you think Brooks case holds the keys to the fountain of youth", but it really is a fascinating case. Is it that she doesn't grow or that she doesn't age? There's a big difference, right?
- "Do you think Brooks case holds the keys to the fountain of youth"
I wonder what immortality would do to the suicide rate? I have to imagine that eventually, no matter how stable of a person you are you'll want off of this ride.
There's a great Vonnegut short short story about this. I'll try to find a link.
Edit: I guess my brain mixed two of his short stories. One is 2BR02B and the other is The Big Trip Up Yonder. Both of which were free downloads from iBooks on my phone. They're likely free from amazon, etc.
They're super short, and great reads.
Again, In Time can shed some insight. There's a man in the movie who is over 100 years old, and he feels as if prolonging his life has no meaning because while the physical body doesn't age, the brain does grow old and weary. I think a lot of people would get this mentality and commit suicide. Come to think of it, the only way for the population to decrease would be suicide, murder, and accidental death.
Again, In Time can shed some insight. There's a man in the movie who is over 100 years old, and he feels as if prolonging his life has no meaning because while the physical body doesn't age, the brain does grow old and weary. I think a lot of people would get this mentality and commit suicide. Come to think of it, the only way for the population to decrease would be suicide, murder, and accidental death.
If you get the chance to live a healthy life indefinitely, though, I'd imagine that contemplating suicide might take a while. Just consider the possibilities of unlimited time: you could read everything. Listen to all the music. Watch every film ever made. Then create your own art, continue developing new science and technology. You could travel everywhere, and not just on earth. I just can't fathom someone not wanting another, say, thousand years of healthy living.
So much of what makes people unhappy or sad has nothing to do with physical health. It has to do with a broken heart. This can occur for any number of reasons that don't involve mortality. I can just envision people being curious too. You have been alive for 500 years, you've done it all, read all the books made all the art you desire to make, satisfied all of your curiosities.... save one.
To be honest, I'm just starting to grasp her condition. Like the doctor said, she may be the first human to develop it. Physically she doesn't appear to grow at all - and not just in a stature sense - but she also seems to show very little allometric (shape) growth. There is a little bit of allometric growth - which is why she looks like an abnormal 4-5 year old. However, they also said she hasn't aged mentally. It is a bizarre condition.