Manipulating age
The Science
There are multiple ways in which we can measure biological age. Various devices have been conceived over time, with subjects being categorised based on their cells, tissues, or organs. ‘GrimAge’ — an estimator that takes into account several regions of DNA — has even been used to predict an individual’s remaining ‘lifespan’. This term, referring to the duration of one’s life, is distinct from ‘healthspan’, which refers to the years of one’s life in which they are deemed healthy. Many people in old age suffer their last 13-20 years in sub-optimal health condition — this is not something to ignore.
Changes in our DNA
As well as a global ‘loosening’ of how the DNA is compacted in the cellular nucleus, ageing is associated with alterations in the ‘epigenome’. This term encompasses modifications that are added to the basic DNA sequence, having various effects including increasing or decreasing expression of certain genes. One of these changes is methylation: here, a methyl group (-CH3) is linked to a letter of the DNA code. While forming a normal part of gene regulation, increased methylation is nevertheless correlated with increasing age and health issues. Indeed, accelerating these changes in mice has been shown to speed up the ageing process.
Other DNA modifications can be positive, however. For example, editing activity of the sirtuin proteins (which act to re-compact DNA) is highly correlated with healthier ageing and tumour suppression.
Notably, lifestyle and environment can have a significant impact. Habits such as smoking and drinking alcohol, as well as exposure to infections and even the weather can change one’s epigenome. Long-held ideas such as lack of sleep and inadequate exercise antagonise the ageing process, while other less recognised factors, such as trauma, are also associated with ageing. A lot of positive changes can be affected too, slowing the ageing process or leading to longer healthspan. These include a well-cultivated microbiome and exposure to mild stresses, which prime cells to deal with larger stresses at the appropriate time.
In a study with mice, it has been shown that epigenetic changes can also be inherited. Here, the offspring of male mice that were given electric shocks in the presence of cherry blossom, thus altering their DNA modifications, had adverse reactions when exposed to cherry blossom scent. It is interesting to note how this only occurred for male parents, suggesting a role of the sperm in this epigenetic heritability. In this way, we could propose that the epigenome you create based on your lifestyle choices has impact not only on your children, but also on the genomes of your descendants to come.
“Treating” ageing
The ‘hallmarks’ of ageing are numerous and varied, covering many facets of the human condition. Through the identification of genes involved in these criteria, researchers have highlighted so-called “anti-ageing” genes. To go forward in research from here, we must consider the implications of the way in which we categorise ageing as a negative symptom — an illness. When tested in old animals, a “chemical cocktail”, which contained a mixture of different chemical/molecular agents with different targets, induced recapitulation of the genome of younger individuals of the same species. Further studies, which have likewise seen ageing reversal, have raised the possibility of extending this research to humans.
It must be highlighted that these heavily studied molecules are 'drugs’, having gone through rigorous testing and gained approval from authorities in the field. In contrast, ‘supplements’, such as those sold online, are largely unregulated, going out onto the market before safety has been closely monitored. This is extremely dangerous, and yet the market for these substances is effervescent. This highlights the way in which society as a whole is hyper-focused on youth. Old age becomes something we wish to avoid totally, not slow in the aspect of improving overall health. There is a fine line between the desire to increase healthspan and the demonisation of those over a certain age, complicating these scientific endeavours into “anti-ageing treatments”.
Society
Ageing is not viewed negatively all over the world. In fact, in Japan the high volume of centenarians and supercentenarians, as well as a cultural appreciation of old age, leads to communities in which older citizens are figures of great respect. In the West, however, while we may celebrate those who have “aged gracefully” (as is often the sentiment when referring to older actors and actresses), there is an innate glorification of “healthy” or “fit” older people, neglecting those who are subject to a shorter healthspan.
Marriage, sex, and the role of the spinster
The association of youth with beauty permeates Western culture, epitomised in the “hag/witch” trope seen throughout fairytales, literature, and film. These characters are typically pitted against a young counterpart and are shown to be obsessed with their youth, such as in ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’. Mina Le, a video essayist, discusses this topic, stating that the ‘nightmarish perversion of the grandma character’ seen in the older women characters of horror manipulate the ‘anxiety towards ageing and death’ of the viewer, reinforcing a ‘general disgust towards older women’s bodies’. Indeed, it is the lack of sexuality in these individuals that makes them so deplorable, since they are no longer able to serve their assigned feminine purpose. These women are lonely and unmarried — as put by Cruikshank, they are ‘an alien creature’.
Originally arising in wartime, the term ‘spinster’ describes an oftentimes older woman, who is unmarried and childless. Around this time, Le notes, many single women had little desire to marry due to shifting social circumstances — an unmarried adult woman was considered by the state to be economically distinct from her peers.
Notably, this connection between a woman’s marital status and how she is viewed in her later years is both intricate and graded in its severity. For instance, single women in the public eye are inspected by their peers and strangers — “are they dating, are they engaged, will they have children?” Khadja Mbowe scrutinises this topic in their video essay, highlighting how single, childless women are not celebrated, no matter their success outside of cultivating a family. Significantly, Mbowe raises that not all women are able to have children and how the passing comments that people make could have a profoundly hurtful effect.
Further, the sexual needs of older women are ignored and even subjects of disgust. In film, the ‘idea that someone of [older] age could still have sexual needs is intended to send shivers down [the viewer’s] spine’ (Walker), trapping women over an abstractly defined “sexless age” into spinsterhood.
In reality, it has been shown that sex in later life can improve mood, reinforce relationships, and improve cognitive function. Jenny Simanowitz, a South African author, teacher, and therapist, speaks on this topic in her Tedtalk ‘We Need to Talk about Sex and Ageing’. As the title suggests, she discusses enjoying sex in later life and the way that how we view women in society influences their behaviours (mostly their hesitation) towards sexual encounters. It is natural for post-menopausal women to lose some libido as the levels of the hormone oestrogen sink, but finding love in this stage of life is not impossible. Simanowitz challenges the audience: why should women have to spend the last 30 years of their life celibate?
Selling a regime
Ageing has been considered in a negative light for decades, becoming particularly prevalent with the rise of consumer culture during the 1800s. In this time, women faced pressure to retain a ‘feminine glow’, and skincare and beauty products became coveted items. It was in this era that cosmetic giants such as Florence Nightingale Graham (more famously known as Elizabeth Arden) began their trade — a mean feat for a woman of the time, especially in the face of relentless discouragement. It would not be misplaced to call Arden a feminist. It is intriguing to consider the conflict between female agency and the conforming to standards by the purchase of a beauty cream. In my view, I don’t believe it to be “giving in” when I use mascara — it is self-care, it is fun, it is my choice. Women should be able to do as they wish without the judgement of the rest of the world: from serums to surgery.
In the case of purchasing products, women are condemned either way. Any noticeable attempts to “de-age”, such as the wearing of visible make-up, are berated. Meanwhile, if one doesn’t partake in any “youth-supporting practices”, they are ‘lazy or neglectful’ of their personal appearance.
In literature throughout the ages, women are framed in virtue of their marriageability and reproductive value. As soon as female characters pass menopausal age, they are deemed ‘old’, while male equivalents are still ‘eligible bachelors’. Women are provided with articles, adverts, books containing multiple ways by which they may maintain their youth, or else be at risk of “letting themselves go”. While men can be framed in the view of their past life successes, older women become ‘culturally invisible’, encompassed in how the movie industry neglects actresses over a certain age, or pigeon holes them into “grandmother roles”.
Fashion is another theme in which this differential treatment comes to play. The scope of women’s fashion is, it should be noted, larger, however it is perhaps this very fact that causes the patterns we see in society. On one hand, men’s fashion is fairly timeless — one could wear a shirt and trousers at twenty and at sixty. In contrast, older women are told to ‘cover up, conceal, camouflage’ (Edith Head), wearing longer skirts and plainer patterns. They cannot dress “too young”, because they would appear to be trying too hard. It is interesting to consider, then, the positive attitudes towards ageing in the earlier 20th century. ‘Eminence grise’, translated literally as ‘grey eminence’, outlines the sophistication of the older person — indeed, this phrase was used originally to designate someone of quiet or unsuspecting power, working behind the scenes of the standing official.
Of course, ageing is not a woman-centric issue. It would be ignorant to neglect that all people of older age face scrutiny. Ultimately, the extensive focus on ageing “issues” has a simple goal — the selling of products. It is this process of making money that drives constant messaging through media that old is “bad” and young is “good”. Adding another layer, since all those who are retired cannot feed into this economy by virtue of their work taxes and labour, they have “no value” in a society that orientates around the trade and making of money.
Plastic Surgery
Originally used to treat essential blepharospasm, in which patients suffer from excessive blinking, Oculinum or ‘Botox’ is now used as a temporary cosmetic treatment for certain signs of ageing. Notably, the fleeting nature of a single treatment means that individuals wishing to keep up their look require multiple appointments. This can become incredibly expensive and emphasises the exclusivity of such procedures. Thus, those of lower income are automatically placed at a disadvantage; they don’t have Botox because they cannot afford it, making them ‘lazy or neglectful’ (as noted above) and perceived as second-rate citizens. If a person’s morality is connected with their beauty, how poorly must we treat those deemed to be beyond its grasp?
When injected, BOTulinum TOXin blocks the reception of the small molecule acetylcholine at neural cells. This causes relaxation of the facial muscles. Interestingly, this may impact our emotions — facial expressions reinforce our emotions, so the weakening of a smile may weaken the coinciding happiness (for example). This is an extreme case and is also one of the factors that has influenced the rise of ‘baby’/’preventative’ Botox. In these cases, people begin to undergo small scale injections usually in their twenties. The reduction in the stigma surrounding Botox may have encouraged this rise, however the increased volume of conversations and debate surrounding the topic is both positive and necessary. It not only highlights discussions on why people feel the need to go under the knife but also allows people to seek advice and get procedures through safer channels.
The key point when discussing Botox is that it ‘prevents the signs of ageing’ — it does not stop it totally. In fact, there are insufficient studies into the efficiency of preventative Botox, and some dermatologists may exploit the system, referring someone for multiple expensive procedures when they are simply unnecessary. While acknowledging the landscape of social pressures, I am neither for nor against plastic surgery; I believe that anyone should be allowed to do what they want with their own body.
Where do we go from here?
People are terrified of ageing by the fear of becoming irrelevant. Frequently, our older citizens are told they are a burden. When considering other cultures, such as that of Okinawa, the older members of the community are revered. In fact, children will line up to have their elders bless them.
Overall, the advancements in this field should be focussed on improving the health of people in the later years of their life, not about eradicating old age completely. Current scientific research points towards the use of drugs that will target multiple or the core mechanistic hallmarks of ageing, with an aim to extend both healthspan and lifespan.
In this, the distinction between the appearance and the underlying factors of ageing are separated, if still intertwined. By beginning to consider ageing in this way — as a disease-causing, natural biological process — our thoughts around ageing can shift. Instead of demonising individuals based on how “well” they appear in their later years, we can give as many people as possible access to healthier older age. Current stereotyping of and distaste towards the aged population is neither empathetic nor constructive. Considering the clearly positive perceptions of age elsewhere in the world and even in our culture’s past, it makes one question why in the West we have developed to have such distinct ideas of beauty and age. Perhaps 16th century patron Alvise Cornaro had it right all along — ‘old age is the time to be most coveted’.