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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine pp 1–5Cite as

Cellular Theory of Aging

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Definition

Cellular theories explain the aging process as originating in individual cells, either at the level of the genetic information or through changes in metabolism.

Description

The quest for understanding the process of aging is probably as long as human history, and its resolution is still far from clear or even assured. A major factor for this state of affairs is that aging is a complex, multifactorial process that develops during ontogeny gradually, at multiple levels, involving a certain degree of stochastic randomness. At a certain time (early 1990s), more than 300 various hypotheses were circulating for explaining aging, and, responding to a need for organizing such a vast catalogue, these hypotheses were classified as cellular theories that explain the aging process as originating in individual cells, either at the level of the genetic information or through changes in metabolism; system theories, that propose that aging, while expressed at the level of individual cells,...

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References and Further Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Medical Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

    Emil C. Toescu

Authors
  1. Emil C. Toescu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emil C. Toescu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Anna C. Whittaker

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Toescu, E.C. (2019). Cellular Theory of Aging. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_447-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_447-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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