Lymph nodes, heroprotectors and hormonal changes: the doctor explained whether it is possible to slow down aging

Why do lymph nodes fail, can hormonal changes be slowed down and what foods help prolong youth? On the air of the talk show “PRO HEALTH” on the YouTube channel “SEE AND LIVE” endocrinologist, doctor of medical Sciences, professor, head of the Department of Clinical Endocrinology of the Belarusian State Medical University Larisa Danilova explained how immune defense works and what helps the body age healthier, writes sb.by.

Lymph nodes as part of the immune system

Lymph nodes are also our defense system, they are the nurseries of immune cells. They can fail, and a lot depends on lifestyle. But I am frightened by the wave of publications that lead the unprepared listener aside: I want a clever fruit, a clever pill, an easy achievement of the goal. It is not for nothing that some athletes emphasize the importance of regular exercise, rather than the use of new mixtures and anabolics.

According to her, each person has an individuality: if he works outdoors and the skin is not protected, then the skin ages faster. Therefore, some peoples of hot climates have strict requirements for clothing - this is protection from the damaging rays of the sun.

- I am very much in favor of industrial medicine. If environmental and workplace conditions are improved, many diseases can be reduced to zero. Impact evaporation, noise pollution. If we want to be a developed state, we inevitably need to develop industry, and this presupposes scientific approaches to the organization of jobs, said Larisa Danilova.

Can we slow down aging?

- Ageing cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed down significantly. No wonder they talk about the psycho-emotional status, about the atmosphere in the family. Why bother each other in family life? Why complicate the life of a learning child? Maybe we should look at the Finns who took the best of the Soviet and GDR schools. There, a child can lie on a mattress during class. Since the scientific process is not 8 to 17 hours, sometimes thoughts come at night, the laboratories have a rest room. The final result is important, if it is not a conveyor production. In Scandinavian countries, depending on the chronotype, a person chooses the time to come to work. The task of a healthy society is to give everyone the conditions for development, education, health and productive life. Therefore, we are talking about healthy longevity, the expert explained.

Ge roprotectors: what helps the body

- All Belarusian products have these qualities to some extent. Sauerkraut, wet apples, dried fruits, pears, dried blueberries. Belarusian chanterelles are geroprotector, Belarusian blueberries are also. Meat should not be cooked to coals, use lard, as our grandmothers did, and not fry in vegetable oil. The form of preparation is very important, because at high temperatures, products with procarcinogenic action are formed. Our oncologists sound the alarm: the incidence of colon cancer has increased. In the light of the Health of the Nation program, there are screening directions starting from a certain age: fibrogastroscopy, examination of the breast, prostate, large intestine, stomach. You need to do routine examinations, know your blood pressure, said Larisa Danilova.

She added that frying in sunflower oil is really harmful:

- Therefore, we replace it with fat, ghee or butter. There is a phrase that refers to immigrants: if you want to preserve health, keep those habits that are characteristic of your people.

Hormonal changes: can they be stopped?

- Yes, you can. I am glad that young gynecologists openly say that there is no evidence that hormone replacement therapy with estrogen and progestin in postmenopausal women leads to a delay in age-related changes and minimize the risk of vascular disasters. There are diseases when such therapy is performed after surgery, but en masse - this is not true. Your body knows everything. In the female and male body quite a high concentration of testosterone. In adipose tissue, it turns into estrone, locally estrogen is formed in the brain. These mechanisms are incomparably more complex. Nevertheless, a competent obstetrician-gynecologist will advise an aging woman how to improve the quality of life (plaster forms and others). The direction is evolving. But the assumption that transplanting testicles to aging men protects was wrong. It's more complicated. Why do cancer patients have low testosterone levels? Primary, secondary. It is believed that somatic diseases reduce testosterone levels. Testosterone is a stress hormone. A competent endocrinologist, andrologist, if he sees a patient with developed secondary sexual characteristics, but low laboratory testosterone, will not put hypogonadism, because in stress the values may be lower. Not everything saves testosterone, not everything saves estrogen. But we prescribe them to someone, someone even growth hormone, because with age there is somatotropic insufficiency, the doctor explained.

How much water should you drink and why is fruit important?

The requirement for two liters of water is in doubt. And not without reason: someone needs less, because the optimal volume depends on pressure, myocardial work and whether the kidneys cope with the load. But plain water is better than juices. We need fiber, and juices don't give it. Fresh vegetables and fruits are important. The study, which was conducted more than a quarter of a century, showed that those who ate more fruit from childhood, the thickness of the vessels was better. This suggests that fruits in the diet of our children should be, concluded Larisa Danilova.

Watch the PRO HEALTH project on the Watch and Live YouTube channel every Sunday at 12:00. Specialists in various fields will answer popular questions of concern to everyone in simple language and with humor.