Abstract

HERNANDEZ TRIANA, Manuel. Aging. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2014, vol.40, n.4, pp. 361-378. ISSN 0864-3466.

Making life beautiful is a way of reaching a long, enriching and fruitful older age. "Adaptism" is an explanatory current of human nutrition and feeding that intends to attenuate the shameful existence of malnutrition in the 21^st century with reassuring linguistic phrases for its generators. Today's generations are the result of alternative periods of famine and plethora which selected the survivors. According to the "Fetal Programming "or "Saving Phenotype" hypothesis, diseases at adulthood is programmed by hormones and neurotransmitters during the critical periods of fetal development. This hypothesis becomes the center of debates on the alarming epidemiological behavior of diabetes, obesity and cancer at present. Extension of life expectancy, as a result of a very successful combination of well-preserved system, good capacity to face stress, adequate life style and genetic load, is accompanied by the prevention of non-communicable diseases. The actions to attain this goal should begin before the intrauterine life of the fetus. Aging as such is not an unsolved issue; the problem lies in marginalization, disease and poverty that do not allow the elderly to have a decent life in many regions of the world.

Keywords : aging; nutrition; adaptation; non-communicable diseases; fetal programming.

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