How are body cells renewed? The system of natural recovery and renewal of the body! Subcutaneous adipose tissue - a storehouse of vitamins

I keep saying that our body is magnificent and ingenious. All we need is not to interfere with his work. And of course, do not feed him any poisonous muck.

So that's what I'm all about.

All the cells of our body are constantly updated, and we have, with some periodicity (each organ has its own period), completely new organs.

Leather: The outer layer of the skin, in contact with environment. Epidermal cells are renewed every 2-3 weeks. The deeper layers are a little slower, but on average, a full cycle of skin renewal occurs in 60-80 days. By the way, interesting information: for the year the body produces about two billion new skin cells.

But then the question arises why one year old baby and a sixty-year-old man's skin looks completely different. There are a lot of unexplored things in our body, but so far it is believed that the skin is aging due to the deterioration (over the years) in the production and renewal of collagen, with which this is still under study.

At the moment, it has only been established that such factors as improper and poor (lack of fats and lack of proteins) nutrition, as well as too aggressive environmental influences, are very significant.

They impair the production and quality of collagen. An excess of ultraviolet radiation also negatively affects the regeneration of the skin. But, 20-30 minutes in the sun is considered a therapeutic dose that has a beneficial effect on many processes in the body, including skin renewal.

The cells of the epithelium covering the stomach and intestines come into contact with the most aggressive environment (gastric juices and enzymes that process food) and become thinner, constantly passing through them. They are updated every 3-5 days!

The structure of the mucous membrane of the tongue is very complex, and we will not go into details. The rate of renewal of the various cells that make up the mucous membrane of the tongue (receptors) is different. Simplified, we can say that the renewal cycle of these cells is 10-14 days.

Blood- the fluid on which our whole life depends. About half a trillion different blood cells die in the average person's body every day. They must die in time for new ones to be born. In a healthy person, the number of dead cells is equal to the number of newborns. Complete renewal of blood occurs within 120-150 days.

Bronchi and lungs also come into contact with an aggressive environment, therefore they renew their cells relatively quickly. The outer cells of the lungs, which are the first layer of defense against aggressors, are updated in 2-3 weeks. The remaining cells, depending on their functions, are updated at different rates. But in general, a little less than a year is necessary for the body to completely renew lung tissue.

Bronchial alveoli updated every 11-12 months.

Hair grow an average of 1-2 cm per month. That is, after some time we have completely new hair, depending on the length.

The life cycle of eyelashes and eyebrows is 3-6 months.

Fingernails hands grow at a rate of 3-4 mm per month, the full renewal cycle is 6 months. On the toes, the nails grow at a rate of 1-2 mm per month.

Liver, truly the most magical organ in our body. Not only does it cleanse us all our lives of all the garbage that we put into our bodies, it is also a champion of regeneration. It has been established that even with the loss of 75% of its cells (in the case of surgery), the liver is able to recover completely, and after 2-4 months we have its full volume.

Moreover, at the age of up to 30-40 years, it regenerates the volume even with a vengeance - by 113%. With age, liver recovery occurs only by 90-95%.

Complete renewal of liver cells occurs in 150-180 days. It has also been established that if you completely abandon toxic products (chemicals, drugs, fried foods, sugar and alcohol), the liver is independently and completely (!) Cleared of harmful effects in 6-8 weeks.

Our health largely depends on the health of the liver. But even such a hardy organ as the liver, we (try) can kill. A large number of sugar or alcohol can cause irreversible effects in the liver in the form of cirrhosis.

Cells of the kidney and spleen updated every 300-500 days.

Skeleton Our body produces hundreds of millions of new cells every day. It constantly regenerates, and in its structure it has both old and new cells. But a complete cellular renewal of the bone structure occurs in 7-10 years. With significant nutritional imbalances, cells are produced much less and of poorer quality, and as a result, over the years, we have such a problem as osteoporosis.

Cells of all types of muscle tissue completely updated in 15-16 years.

Heart, eyes and brain is still the least studied by scientists.

For a very long time it was believed that the muscles of the heart are not updated (unlike the rest of the muscle tissue), but recent discoveries have shown that this is a delusion, and the muscle tissue of the heart is updated in the same way as the rest of the muscles.

Studies have just begun, however, according to preliminary data, it is known that the full heart muscle renewal occurs approximately (exact data is not yet available) for 20 years. That is 3-4 times in an average life.

The mystery is still the fact that eye lens is not updated at all, or rather, why the lens is not updated. Only the cells of the cornea of ​​the eye are restored and renewed. The update cycle is quite fast - 7-10 days. In case of damage, the cornea is able to recover in just a day.

However, this does not negate the fact that the cells of the lens are never updated at all! The central part of the lens is formed at the sixth week of intrauterine development of the fetus. And for the rest of your life, new cells “grow” to the central part of the lens, which makes it thicker and less flexible, worsening the quality of focusing over the years.

Brain- this is the riddle of riddles ...

The brain is the least understood organ in our body. Of course, this is associated with a number of objective factors. The brain of a living person is very difficult to study without harming it. Experiments on humans are forbidden in our country (at least officially). Therefore, studies are carried out on animals and terminally ill human volunteers, which is not at all equivalent to a healthy, normally functioning person.

Until recently, it was believed that brain cells never renew themselves. In principle, things are still there. The brain that controls our entire most complex system called the body, the brain that gives signals for regeneration to all our organs, does not renew itself at all ... Hmm.

Back in the 60s of the last century, Joseph Altman discovered neurogenesis (the birth of new neurons) in the thalamus and cerebral cortex. The scientific world, as usual, was very skeptical about this discovery and forgot about it. In the mid-80s, this discovery was "rediscovered" by another scientist, Fernando Notteboom. And again silence.

But since the end of the 90s of the last century, full-scale studies of our brains have finally begun.

At the present moment (in the course of the latest research) several discoveries have been made. It has already been reliably established that the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb still regularly renew their cells. In birds, lower vertebrates, and mammals, the rate of emergence of new neurons is quite high. In adult rats, approximately 250,000 new neurons are formed and replaced within a month (this is approximately 3% of the total).

The human body also renews the cells of these parts of the brain. It has also been established that the more active the physical and brain activity, the more actively new neurons are formed in these areas. But it is still under study. Wait-sir…

Over the past 20 years, science has made tremendous strides in understanding our nutrition and our health. Finally, we found out that proper nutrition plays an important role in the proper functioning of organs. It has been reliably clarified - what we need to eat and what we should not eat if we want to be healthy. But in general? What comes out in general? And it turns out that “in detail” we are updated without stopping, all our lives. So what makes us get sick, grow old and die?

We fly into space, we think about the conquest and colonization of other planets. But at the same time, we know so little about our body. Scientists, both in ancient times and in modern times, have absolutely no idea why, with such a huge ability to renew, we grow old. Why wrinkles appear and muscle condition worsens. Why do we lose flexibility and our bones become brittle. Why do we go deaf and stupid ... No one can say anything intelligible, as before.

Some say that aging is in our DNA, but this theory has no evidence base to support it.

Others believe that aging is inherent in our brain and psychology, that we, as it were, force ourselves to grow old and die. That our subconsciousness contains programs of aging. It's just a theory without any evidence or evidence.

Still others (very recent theories) believe that this is due to the "accumulation" of certain mutations and damage in mitochondrial DNA. But they don't know why these damages and mutations accumulate.

That is, it turns out that, contrary to Comrade Darwin's theory of evolution, cells, renewing themselves again and again, renew a worsened version of themselves, instead of an improved one. Strange...

Optimistic "alchemists" believe that we are endowed with the elixir of youth from birth, and there is no need to look for it on the side. He is within us. We just need to choose the right keys to our body and learn how to properly and fully use our brain.

And then our body will be, if not immortal, then very, very long-lived!

Let's feed our body properly. We will help him a little, or rather, we will not interfere with him with all sorts of poisons, and in return he will thank us with good work and long, HEALTHY life!

- In our body there are short-lived cells that are quickly renewed, and there are long-lived cells that are not replaced at all. It turns out a very large spread: some for life, others - only for a couple of days, a week or several months. We are investigating the reasons that determine such a difference in the lifespan of cells, namely, genes, the work of which can increase and shorten the period of a cell's existence, - says the professor at Harvard Medical School and Moscow State University. Lomonosov, head of laboratories for research in the field of aging Vadim Gladyshev. The scientist reported the results obtained at a recent international conference"Ways to achieve active longevity" in Kazan, which brought together leading researchers from around the world.

Gladyshev's Harvard team studied data on 20 types of human cells and found out: the expression (that is, the activity of work) of which genes corresponds to a long life of cells inside the body and which to a shorter lifespan. “We built patterns and called this model longevity signature (“longevity key.” — Auth.), explains the professor. “This algorithm allows us to see which genes need to be activated in order for cells to live longer. The next stage is the selection of conditions, substances that will change the work of the necessary genes in the necessary direction, that is, to prolong the life of the cell (so that, of course, it remains healthy and does not degenerate into a tumor one. - Auth.) ” In fact, we are talking about testing potential geroprotectors, that is, compounds, drugs that can slow down aging and prolong the life of a person, experts explain.

— By the way, in the course of such “gene testing” an important circumstance may be revealed: the same “anti-aging” compound will turn out to be useful in terms of longevity for one human organ/cell type and at the same time useless, if not harmful, for other cells (i.e. will not prolong, but even shorten their life. Auth.), says the scientist. - This may mean that such drugs "for old age" cannot be taken in the form of tablets or injected into the blood so that they do not get into all organs.

- Maybe it will be possible to apply the method that is now used to treat certain types of cancer - injections aimed at a specific place, a specific organ?

— Yes, theoretically this is one of the possible approaches.

ONCE AND FOR ALL LIFE

On the Internet, you can find many texts and colorful videos that assure that our body "is completely renewed in 7 to 10 years." This is complete nonsense, Professor Gladyshev shakes his head. At least because the cells of our most important organs - the control center of the whole organism, that is, the brain, and the main motor, that is, the heart, are practically not updated at all. "Neurons ( nerve cells of the brain) occur during embryonic development, and by the 4-5th month of a woman's pregnancy, most of these cells are formed in the unborn baby, the scientist explains. “After birth and until the end of a person’s life, neurons mostly just die.” Alas, according to the latest scientific data, new brain nerve cells appear during life in microscopic quantities.

In a word, biology-anatomy-medicine made a turn in a spiral, and after in-depth research the latest methods returned to the thesis that nerve cells are practically not restored. This means that they need to be carefully protected.

THIS WILL BE USEFUL

How to prolong the life of nerve cells

1. More oxygen!

For good nutrition of brain cells, a full supply of oxygen is needed. Aerobic exercise helps to improve it, the safest of which for any state of health and age is walking at a fast pace: as quickly as possible without shortness of breath.

2. Less sweet

Of course, you remember from childhood that brain cells need glucose, but if you often feed your neurons with pure sugar from sweets and cookies, then adverse processes will begin that damage the blood vessels in the brain. It is much safer and more beneficial to provide the brain with glucose, which is formed during the assimilation of slow (complex) carbohydrates, that is: cereals with minimal processing (monastic oatmeal, dark rice); bread and pasta from wholemeal flour; vegetables. It is advisable to replace confectionery with fruits.

3. Lack of sleep - no

I don’t want to add stress to you, but it has been proven that with a lack of sleep, the production of substances increases, the accumulation of which can cause inflammation and further death of neurons. And during a full sleep, on the contrary, the brain is most actively cleared of accumulated debris. The most valuable in the "cleansing" plan is the phase of deep slow sleep, it accounts for 15 - 20% of your total sleep duration, and ideally it should be at least 1.5 - 2 hours.

EGGS: AND THE CLOCK IS STILL TICKING

Like neurons, eggs are given to a woman once and for all her life. This means that due to natural monthly losses, the supply of female germ cells is depleted and completely dries up on average by the age of 40 to 55 years. Those who are planning to have children, but for some reason are delaying pregnancy, modern medicine offers to freeze the eggs and store them in a cryobank (in Moscow, the cost of the procedures necessary for the collection of female germ cells and storage can reach 170-175 thousand rubles, plus about 15-17 thousand rubles per year for storage in a cryobank).

Another type of the most important and, alas, non-renewable cells is cardiomyocytes, or cells of the heart muscle (myocardium). Like neurons, they can be replenished a little over the course of a lifetime, but the number of newly emerging cardiomyocytes is so small that it is not necessary to speak seriously about heart renewal, explains Vadim Gladyshev. And this is another reason to take care of the health of your "motor".

DO THIS

To make the heart long-lived

Yaroslav Ashikhmin, cardiologist, candidate of medical sciences, chief therapist of the Ilyinsky hospital advises:

- control your arterial pressure(AD): out physical activity it should always be below 130 (“upper”) and 85 (“lower”) mm Hg. If the BP numbers jump above 140 and 90 mm Hg. - Make an urgent appointment with a general practitioner or cardiologist.

- Get rid of excess weight. For a healthy heart normal body mass index (BMI) is considered a figure up to 25. To calculate BMI, square your height (in meters), then divide your weight (in kg) by the resulting number.

- Quit smoking and do not abuse alcohol. In the absence of contraindications (digestive diseases, pregnancy, etc.), it is considered relatively safe to drink 1 glass of dry wine per day no more than 5 times a week for women and up to 2 glasses a day no more than 5 times a week for men.

- Try to move as much as possible: according to the latest international recommendations for heart and vascular health, weekly at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise (30 minutes 5 days a week) or at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise (15 minutes a day 5 days a week) are required ).

DOES SKIN EASILY CHANGE ONCE A MONTH? DON'T BE DELESSED

Most of the other cells in our body, some faster, some slower, but one way or another are updated. For example, fat cells live 7.5 - 8 years, liver cells - hepatocytes on average 327 days, epithelial cells (intestinal lining) 2 - 4 days, skin cells 10 - 30 days, and the life of a sperm cell is 2 months.

However, everything is not so simple here, as the authors of numerous pictures and videos on the Internet imagine, Professor Gladyshev warns. Do not be fooled that your liver is completely renewed every year, and all the skin easily changes once a month.

- They often simplify everything, but in life a lot happens differently: for example, some cells are biologically able to renew themselves, but in fact such a cell lives in its organ and, if you remove it, it will be replaced by another cell at least during the day, and if you don’t touch - can sit for 10 years and not change. It also happens that the same type of cells in one place of the body has completely changed over some time, and in another place lives as if nothing had happened. What factors influence this is still largely a mystery of the body's internal self-regulation.

PROJECT "MUSCLE PHANTOM"

— There are two ways of cell renewal. The first is division, after which the mother cell dies and is replaced by a new, daughter cell. The second way is the transformation of stem (universal. - Author) cells into cells of certain tissues and organs, - explains the participant of the conference "Methods for achieving active longevity", leading researcher at the RIKEN Institute (Japan), head of the laboratory of Kazan Federal University (KFU), candidate sciences, geneticist Oleg Gusev. “Our muscles and other organs are surrounded by pools (clumps) of stem cells that “turn” into specialized cells when needed.

Over time, stocks of stem cells in the body are depleted, dividing cells gradually degrade ( see further "Question-edge").

- Due to these and other reasons, sarcopenia develops with age, that is, loss of muscle mass, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of life: a person weakens, moves worse, and the risk of falls, bruises, and fractures increases. To save people from such problems, in fact, to rejuvenate the muscles, we are launching a large-scale international project Japanese Institute RIKEN, KFU and the Institute general genetics RAS "Muscle phantom". Moreover, it is planned that it is Russia that will play the leading role in the research.

THE MYSTERY OF THE FACIAL MUSCLES

What exactly will the scientists do?

- First of all, we will analyze the diversity of muscles. It is believed that a person has only three types of muscles: cardiac (myocardium), smooth muscles and skeletal. But there are more than 600 skeletal muscles alone! To this day, it is not known what makes them similar and diverse. Apparently, there is some special genetic program: despite the fact that they are all skeletal muscles in general, they have their own components that determine what kind they become.

Why is it so important to find out?

- Remember, recently died the famous scientist Stephen Hawking? He had a severe stage of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (hereditary disease of the nervous system, which is accompanied by muscle atrophy. — Auth.). Strikingly, with complete paralysis, Hawking retained facial expressions. But the disease is hereditary, which means that in all cells of the body the mutation is the same. However, as it turned out, not all types of muscles undergo dystrophy (exhaustion) with age - either with a disease, like in Stephen, or in healthy older people. In particular, it turned out that eye muscles and the muscles of the face in humans are the most stable. And now it is important to understand: why, for example, the muscles of the limbs become the first victims of dystrophy (with age or illness. - Auth.), while other types of muscles do not. What is so special about them? If this is found out, then there are prospects for using gene therapy to return decrepit muscles to good condition. This is the goal of our project.

Comparing the results of studies in primates and humans, in different muscles and in different ages, researchers plan to create the largest atlas of work different types muscles. And calculate the factors that affect changes and super-resistance of muscles.

QUESTION-EDGE

Why do we age when we renew ourselves?

“Firstly, the stocks of stem cells are depleted, and secondly, it is important to understand that cell division does not pass without a trace,” explains geneticist Oleg Gusev.— In any case, the division leads to the accumulation of errors, mutations. The parent cell passes DNA with some defects to the child cell. In addition to genes, a part of the biological material from the mother cell also enters the daughter cell, for example, fragments of old proteins and other unfavorable inheritance. So the new cells are already a little "old", and each subsequent one is conditionally partially worse than the previous one, especially as the person's age increases.

“Of course, in our body there are repair tools, that is, the correction of damage that occurs in the DNA of mother and daughter cells,” adds biologist Vadim Gladyshev.“However, the older the body, the slower and worse the repair mechanisms work, more and more defects accumulate. The process of accumulation of such unfavorable changes is aging, and its external manifestations are decrepitude and diseases that develop with age. However, biologically we have no obstacles that would not allow us to intervene in the aging conveyor and slow it down - just as we have already learned to slow down and cure many serious diseases.

The author of the article is grateful for the assistance of the co-chairman of the organizing committee of the international conference "Ways to achieve active longevity" Fania Maganova and Scientific Supervisor of the Conference, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Moskalev.

The human body is the most complex living machine in which various systems function harmoniously as a whole. All parts of the body are made up of cells, of which there are about 100 trillion in the body of an adult.

Some of these cells are constantly dying, and new ones take their places. For different organs and tissues of the human body, the cycle of complete renewal takes an unequal amount of time. And for many cells in our body, this period has already been determined more or less accurately.

And even if, according to your passport, your age is, for example, 35 years old, then your skin may be only two weeks old, your skeleton 10 years old, and the lenses of your eyes are about the same age as you. How often these and other cells of your body are updated, we will tell in this article.

skin cells

Complete replacement of epithelial cells occurs in 14 days. Skin cells are formed in the deep layers of the dermis, gradually come to the surface and replace old cells that die and exfoliate. In one year, our body produces about two billion new skin cells.

muscle cells

Skeletal muscle tissue is completely renewed every 15-16 years. The rate of cell renewal is affected by the age of a person - the older we get, the slower this process occurs.

Skeleton

7-10 years - this is the time during which there is a complete cellular renewal of bone tissue. In the structure of the skeleton, both old and young cells function simultaneously. At the same time, improper unbalanced nutrition can affect the quality of new cells for the worse, causing numerous complications. Bone tissue produces hundreds of millions of new cells every day.

blood cells

Complete renewal of blood cells takes from 120 to 150 days. The body of a healthy person daily produces as many blood cells as they die, and this number is equal to about 500 billion cells with different purposes.

Stomach

The epithelial cells of the stomach, which filter nutrients into the body, are replaced very quickly - in just 3-5 days. This is necessary, since these cells are exposed to an extremely aggressive environment - gastric juice and enzymes responsible for food processing.

Intestines

If you do not focus on the cells of the intestinal epithelium, which are replaced every 5 days, the average age of the intestine will be approximately 15-16 years.

Liver

Her cells are completely renewed in just 300-500 days. Surprisingly, with the loss of 75% of liver cells, it is able to regenerate its full volume in just 3-4 months. That's why healthy person you can transplant part of your liver to someone in need without fear for your health - it will grow again.

Heart

For a long time it was assumed that the cells of the myocardium (heart muscle tissue) do not renew at all. However, recent studies have shown that the complete renewal of the heart muscles occurs about once every 20 years.

Vision

The lens itself and the brain cells responsible for processing visual information are the same age as a person. Only the cells of the cornea of ​​the eye are regenerated and renewed. At the same time, the complete renewal of the cornea occurs quite quickly - the entire cycle takes 7-10 days.

We lose hair every day, but we usually don't go bald; we cut our nails, but they still grow back. We remove dead skin cells to give it smoothness and radiance, we carry out procedures that start the process of skin regeneration.

All this is possible thanks to the body's ability to renew itself. You must have heard that the human body is completely renewed every 7 years, that is, at the end of this period you become a different person, because every cell in your body is replaced by a new one.

Sounds amazing! But is this really so and why do we, despite the renewal of the body, continue to age?

Body renewal: each cell has its own “service life”

Indeed, the lifetime of individual cells human body limited. After the expiration of this period, the cells die, and new ones take their place. The adult human body consists of a huge number of cells - approximately 50-75 trillion - and each type of cell has its own "lifetime".

After the death of a person, not all cells die immediately - some of them take several minutes for this, others - hours, and others - a day. The rate of cell death is one of the factors that is used to determine the cause and time of a person's death.

The rate of cell death is one of the factors that is used to determine the cause and time of a person's death.

Below site will consider:

• the approximate time of renewal of various cells, tissues and organs of the body;
• why do we get old.

How fast is cell renewal?

Below are the approximate rates of cell renewal in the human body:

1. Red blood cells (erythrocytes), which carry oxygen, live for about four months.

2. The average lifespan of white blood cells is just over a year. At the same time, the most numerous group of leukocytes - neutrophils - live only a couple of hours, eosinophils - 2-5 days.

3. Platelets live for about 10 days.

4. Lymphocytes are updated at a rate of 10,000 cells per second.

5. Epidermal cells are updated approximately every 10-30 days of the week, the skin recovers 4 times faster after minor injuries.

6. The "age" of hair on the head can reach 6 - 7 years. Every day, the hair on the head grows by about 0.5 mm. Hair on other parts of the body - about 0.27 mm per day. Eyebrows are renewed every 64 days.

7. The surface of the cornea of ​​the eye is covered with a thin layer of cells that are constantly updated in 7-10 days. Retinal cells do not renew themselves, as does the lens of the eye, so age-related visual impairment is a common problem. However, experts are developing methods of retinal regeneration using stem cells.

8. Epithelial cells small intestine are updated every 2-4 days, the colon - approximately every 4 days, the gastric mucosa - about 5 days.

9. Cells in the cerebral cortex, as far as we know today, are not capable of regeneration, unlike hippocampal neurons. Damaged nerve cells can recover to a certain extent if the body of the neuron is not damaged.

10. The rate of nerve regeneration after injury is approximately 2-3 mm per day.

11. Average age fat cells - 8 years. Every year, 10% of fat cells are replaced by new ones.

12. Renewal of liver cells takes approximately 300-500 days. The human liver has an excellent ability to regenerate. If you remove 70% of this organ, it will recover to normal size in just a couple of months. Surgeons removed even 90% of the liver, but the recovery in this case was incomplete.

13. Kidney and spleen cells need 300-500 days to renew.

14. Nails grow about 3.5 mm monthly, although the pinky nail grows slower than the others. Toenails grow at a rate of about 1.6 mm per month, with the thumbnail growing the fastest.

15. The heart is one of the slowest regenerating organs. human body. In a 25-year-old person, only 1 percent of heart cells are renewed annually, this figure decreases with age. Less than half of the heart cells are renewed in a lifetime.

The heart is one of the slowest regenerating organs in the human body.

16. Taste buds on the tongue are updated every 10 days.

17. Fingertips can partially regenerate after injuries. The best results are observed in children a few months after the injury. An unaffected nail bed is needed to restore the fingertips. The new fingertip is sensitive and has an imprint on it.

18. The mucous membrane of the bronchioles is renewed every 2-10 days.

19. Microscopic air sacs - alveoli - are updated in 11-12 months, and superficial lung cells - in 2-3 weeks.

20. Muscle cells are "long-livers" because their lifespan is 15 years.

21. The cells of the skeleton are constantly updated, but rather slowly - 10% per year, and it takes about 10 years to completely replace the cells of the skeleton.

Why, despite the renewal of the body, we age

The fact of renewal of the body was established in the early 50s in the course of observing the movements of objects with radioactive atoms embedded in them. Jonas Friesen, a molecular biologist from Sweden, has been studying body renewal by measuring levels of radioactive carbon-14.

He found that every 7-10 years most of the body's cells are replaced by new ones. Of course, this figure is conditional, taking into account the rate of renewal, for example, of heart and skeletal cells or the lack of the ability to regenerate certain neurons, retinal cells, lens, and oocytes.

Of course, it's hard to invest in something that doesn't work. Yes, and it doesn't make much sense. True, in the above example, we did not take into account the main thing - the knowledge of when to expect this result, and, accordingly, rushed to conclusions about the appropriateness of our actions.

To the beat of jazz

Each cell of our body lives in its own mode, so the renewal of our tissues occurs in different time cycles. If the vital rhythms of cells could be described by a melody, most likely, we would not hear a clear march or a rhythmic polka, but a unique jazz composition would sound for us - filled with improvisations and syncopated rhythms.

Our body is constantly being updated. In one day, millions of new cells appear in it, and millions of old ones die. Cells that are in contact with the external environment are updated the fastest. For example, skin cells are updated on average in three weeks, and the cells of the inner walls of the intestine (which make up the smallest villi that absorb nutrients from food masses) - in 3-5 days.

Some life cycles of our body

Receptor cells on the surface of the tongue, which help distinguish food tastes, are renewed every 10 days. blood cells- erythrocytes - are updated on average in 120 days, therefore, in order to see a picture of changes in our body, it is recommended to do it every six months general analysis blood.

Liver cells are renewed in 300-500 days. If you give up alcohol, do not eat fatty and spicy, do not take medication, the liver can be completely cleansed in 8 weeks. By the way, the liver is the only organ in our body that is able to fully recover when 75% of its tissue is lost.

Alveoli (air sacs located at the ends of the bronchi) are renewed within one year, and cells on the surface of the lungs - every 2-3 weeks.

Bone tissue is constantly updated - the fusion of bones after fractures occurs precisely due to its regeneration. But in order for our skeleton to be completely renewed, it takes from 7 to 10 years.

Fingernails grow by 3-4 mm per month, and hair grows by an average of one centimeter. Hair can completely change in a few years, depending on its length. It is believed that in men, hair changes occur in three years, while in women this cycle can reach seven or more years.

The more complex the structure of the tissue and its function, the longer the process of its regeneration. In our body, the nervous tissue is considered the most complex in structure. And although earlier scientists were sure that it was not restored, it has now been revealed that regenerative processes are also possible in it. The brain, the lenses of the eyes and the heart also hold many unsolved mysteries for scientists, since these organs have not yet been fully studied. At the moment, scientists believe that their regeneration process is very complicated and almost impossible.

And who is in charge here?

The brain is the least studied by scientists. Almost all brain cells live with us all our lives and have the same age as we do. It is thanks to the constancy of brain cells that we are able to accumulate experience, acquire information about the world around us, cognize it, draw certain conclusions and use them. At the moment, it has been established that cells are being updated in two areas of the brain. This happens in the olfactory bulb, which is responsible for the perception of smells, and the hippocampus, which is involved in the mechanisms of the formation of emotions, helps to assimilate new information (controls the transition of short-term memory to long-term memory) and navigates in space.

The rate of cell renewal can be influenced by a person's age and the very state of the body: we are sick or healthy at the moment, tired or full of strength and energy. For example, in a person who has Parkinson's disease, the death of old cells is not balanced by the appearance of new ones, and in depression, too few new neurons appear in the hippocampus - i.e. the update process is slow or non-existent.

The regeneration of the body is controlled by our central nervous system and its highest department - the cerebral cortex, which once again confirms the connection between our thoughts and the state of our body. If we believe in ourselves, move forward, look for the necessary solution, then the more likely it is that we help the body recover and renew itself, give birth to strength and interest in life in it.

For centuries, alchemists have been looking for an elixir of youth and a cure for all diseases, but it turns out from birth, each of us has already been endowed with it. Man has only to learn how to use his brains correctly.