We Shorten Our Lives in All Kinds of Ways—But There May Be a Way to Reverse It

Our body has a biological clock that determines how fast our cells age. How does this mechanism work? What are the factors that speed it up or slow it down?

There are things in our lives that, practiced consistently, may repair and rejuvenate the cells in our bodies. Shutterstock

In the 1992 comedy “Death Becomes Her,” starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, the fear of growing old drives the two women to sign a pact with the devil and drink a potion that will stop aging and give them a younger appearance. In the real world, the same desire has given rise to cosmetic procedures meant to let us trick fate a little and escape our real age.

Every now and then, we meet a man or a woman who looks younger than their years. Many of them cannot explain why, and when complimented, they offer a familiar answer: “good genes.”