Live fast - but die when? (1/21/2008)

Most current theories of aging believe that our aging process is related to how fast we live - how many calories we eat and how many calories we expend. The notion of "live fast, die young" seems to make intuitive sense, but there's a new way of thinking that rejects this notion and suggests a whole new way of thinking about how the body manages energy.

The new science is called 'energetics' and one of the world leaders in the field - Dr. John Speakman, from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland - believes that many of our previous assumptions may be incorrect.

"The idea," says Speakman, "that the duration of life is linked to our expenditure of energy 'living fast but dying young' is intuitively attractive and formed the basis of the first explicit theories about why we age and die. However what if it is those individuals who live the fastest that are destined to live the longest? Can we use this knowledge to develop interventions that will enable us to live longer?"

Speakman is a world renowned expert in all things related to energy balance - the energy or calories we eat versus the energy or calories we burn. His work has implications for many different fields of human health research - everything from aging and obesity to reproduction.

His Calgary lecture will focus on energetics as it relates to aging - how long we live and how well we live based on how well we balance our energy in versus our energy out.

Dr. John R. Speakman is a Professor and Director of the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He is an international expert in the field of energetics and has published 278 peer-reviewed papers. He has received numerous awards and prizes including the Zoological Society of London Scientific Medal and recognition of his contributions to Encyclopedia Brittanica.

The Kinesiology Dean's Lecture Series is free of charge, and open to the public.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the University of Calgary

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