One of the oldest theories of aging believed that each person had a certain amount of heartbeats, breaths, or other 'vital force'. As these depleted, the person showed the signs of aging.
The idea that we have a certain number of heartbeats has been left in the dust of history, but researchers still look to our rates of living to explain aging. When examining different species, those that metabolize oxygen the fastest have the shortest lives. This is possibly because oxygen metabolism results in harmful byproduct (such as free radicals) that can damage and destroy cells and tissues.
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