Conditions of aging as manifestations of sympathetic bias unmasked by loss of parasympathetic function.
We propose a unifying hypothesis that many clinical consequences of aging are pleiotropic manifestations of the loss of parasympathetic function that occurs during post-reproductive senescence. The loss of parasympathetic function unmasks the baseline sympathetic bias inherent in the end-organs, resulting in the familiar signs of aging including tachycardia, constipation, insomnia, erectile dysfunction, fluid retention, and systemic inflammation. These consequences in turn may contribute to many of the common diseases associated with aging including type-2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, atherosclerosis, and cancer. Maintenance and restoration of parasympathetic function may enable upstream control over the deleterious aspects of inherent end-organ adrenergic bias.
Lee
Patrick Y
PY
Department of Medicine, Stanford University, 470 University Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA.
Yun
A Joon
AJ
Bazar
Kimberly A
KA
D000375:Aging; D016922:Cellular Senescence; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D008136:Longevity; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010275:Parasympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*