Regeneration of the body between myth and truth

Is our body regenerating every 7 or 10 years?

It is a story around which catches people’s imagination that every 7 years (10 in different versions) we get a brand new body due to body cell regeneration. Is that true? Can we really believe such an allegation? So why we don’t get younger or feeling different when that happening?

Different organs, different cells, different regenerating times

The human body is built from different 50 up to 70 trillion cells. Each type of cell has its own life spam. Some of them replaced in a very short period of time, and some in a very long one, or never. From:https://www.businessinsider.com/how-long-it-takes-the-body-to-grow-hair-nails-cells-2018-4?r=US&IR=T we found out that:

-The hair grows 0.35 mm/day

-The nail grows 0.1 mm/day

-The cells from visual cortex are never replaced

-Cerebellum grey matter stop from growing @ 3 years

-Intercostal muscle are replaced every 15 years

-Achilles tendon stop growing at 17.

-Cells beta from pancreas stop growing at 30 years

-Hippocampal neurons are replaced one in 20 to 30 years

-Cells from heart muscle stop growing at age of 10.

-Heart endothelial cells life are 6 years

-Internal intestinal cells are replaced in 16 years while the intestinal epithelial cells in 5 days.

-The skeleton is replaced every 10 years

-Fat storage life span are 10 years

-Liver cells are replaced every 300 to 500 days

-Red cells replacement time is 120 days

-Skin cells are replaced every 39 days

If we look at those numbers we can conclude that in the statement ” every 7 years we get a brand new body” there is a grain of truth but is false as a whole. Probable that the allegation came up from the fact that the average age of a cell in the human body is between 7 to 10 years.

Stem cells role in body regeneration

A stem cell is a special body cell that has the capacity to transform in many different types and replace the damaged or lost specialized cells. Our bodies produce stem cell which by division produce more stem cells or specialized cell which perform particular functions.

There are three different type of stem cells.

1. Embryonic stem cells present in the human embryo. They are pluripotent cells with the capacity to change into any cells of the body.

2. Adult stem cells present in adult bodies. They are multipotent, not pluripotent; meaning that they only can change into some cells.

3. Stem cell-induced.They are pluripotent, made in laboratories from normal adult cells. Scientists reprogram them to become stem cells that can replace any cells in the body.

The medical world has high hopes for these cells to treat many diseases.

They are already used to treat :

-some blood condition like thalassemia or in cancer where the treatment destroys the stem cell from the blood.

-on patients with burns to create new skin

-AMD (Age-related macular degeneration) to create retinal pigment epithelium

New hope in Human Cell Regeneration Technic

The medical world is working on creating human organs from stem cells which could be the answer in avoiding rejection in a transplant.

Recently, two important discoveries offer increasing hope and insight into human cell regeneration. Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have been able to regenerate organs using tissues fully derived from a patient’s own cells. The scientists collected fatty tissue from the patients’ stomachs that were then used for stem cell regeneration. But instead of using plant and animal biomaterials as a scaffold, they used discarded fatty material outside the cells. As a result, the tissues regenerated are not likely to be rejected by a person’s immune system. This discovery has notable implications for better patient outcomes.

The other scientific discovery was even more impressive. Researchers at Harvard University investigated DNA material from a special type of worm. The worm is recognized for its ability to completely regenerate its entire body when severed. The researchers found that a part of the worm’s DNA that didn’t code for any specific protein had other functions. It served as a “switch” for turning on or off other parts of the DNA involving whole-body regeneration. More importantly, they found that other species—including humans—also have this same DNA switch. Determining how this switch functions in human beings is now the source of intense interest. From:https://www.boldbusiness.com/health/whole-body-regeneration-companies-exploring-science/

Can we help body cells regeneration process?

We are used to seeing people who look much younger than their age and all of us know that their body has a good rate of cell regeneration. We can improve that rate by changing our lifestyle.

Exercising and food are the two main factors in increasing body regeneration. Muscles, bones, hearts, and brains are the biggest winners of a daily active lifestyle. The natural regeneration is speeding in people physically active compared with the ones with a sedentary lifestyle.

Diet is the other component in the bod cell regeneration. Choosing certain type of food we can give an impulse to our body to create naturally the stem cells.In this purpose we should include in our diets:

-Crucifers: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower,Kale, Brussel sprouts

– Blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, goji berries, pomegranate

-Mushroom: maitake, shiitake

-Seeds and nuts

-Ginger roots

-Fatty fish and sea foods

Intermittent fasting prove to be also a stem cell activator.

Reducing alcohol consumption and stop smoking should be also on the list as they have a negative impact on stem cell functions.

Getting 7-8 hours of sleep is ideal; deprivation of sleep reduces the capacity of stem cells to migrate.

Avoid toxic chemical products as well as harmful medication.