Why We Age: What Science Is Discovering about the Body's Journey Through Life

Why does aging cause human and animal bodies to grow frail and susceptible to death? Why don't we get better and stronger throughout life? In his lucid first book, Austad, a zoologist at the University of Idaho, describes why human beings stop improving physically and start declining not at birth, as popular wisdom contends, but ""at about 10 or 11 years of age, or just before we reach puberty."" Austad surveys the vast research on aging, methodically reporting on key theories and studies, including his own contribution to the search for an evolutionary cause for aging. In order to study the possible evolutionary link in opossums' rapid aging and their placement in predator-heavy environments, Austad set up shop on a tiny, predator-free island off the coast of Georgia, discovering that oppossums there did indeed seem to age more slowly than their mainland kin. As in the case of many other tantalizing theories and purported cures for aging--from DHEA and melatonin to antioxidants--Austed is cautious. While science may indeed be close to a breakthrough in understanding aging, he contends, it is still a long way from distilling the fountain of youth. In this clear, engrossing overview, Austad takes the sting out of a subject that will ultimately capture us all. (June)