Since ancient times, delaying
aging,
health, and
longevity have been the universal wish of people. Nowadays,
China gives top strategic priority to the development of people's
health. How to maintain a healthy
life and slow down the
aging of the
human body is a problem worthy of our
attention.
Human aging can be shown as
cell senescence from the microscopic level.
Cell senescence is a process in which
cell proliferation and differentiation and physiological function gradually decline. It is a normal physiological function responsible for the removal of damaged
cells and is the
regeneration and recovery of
tissues after
injury or acute stress.
Aging is an irresistible
natural law. Although it is inevitable, it is possible to delay
aging.
Energy metabolism is an important basis of
cell function, in which
cells use
nutrients such as
sugar and fat to produce
adenosine triphosphate (
ATP).
Mitochondria serve as the
cell's
power stations, where
sugars,
fats, and
amino acids are eventually oxidized to release energy. Mitochondrial function decreases with age. Changes in
mitochondrial dynamics,
reactive oxygen species content,
autophagy, and metabolites can cause dysfunction of
electron transport chain and
oxidative phosphorylation, and induce
mitochondrial dysfunction.
Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the internal causes of many
aging-related
diseases, such as
neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer′s
disease, and
atherosclerosis.
Chinese medicine with few side effects and rich ingredients and
health care moxibustion with
safety and
efficacy have been widely applied to the field of anti-
aging. This study reviewed the effect of mitochondrial function on
cell senescence, and retrieved, analyzed, and summarized
research papers on the mechanism of
traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and
moxibustion in delaying
aging by affecting mitochondrial function, which is expected to provide new insights for further
research in this field.