Recess! One of the most anticipated and desired words for grade school children to hear. Then kids spring from sitting and learning into shooting bullets pelting through the doors into the great outdoors, for a game of capture the flag, swing set underdogs, or jungle gym expeditions. As the school years climb, recess is uttered fewer times throughout the day, and eventually when a high school free period is given it is spent lazing in the summer sun, or lounging in cafeteria chairs. Eventually all that comes after a long work day is the desire to veg out in front of the TV, gym shoes dormant in the gym bag. What Happened? Where did all that youthful energy go?
According to Dr. Oz children have a combination of less free radical damage, more sleep accumulation, and a brand new world in need of exploration. (Drs. Oz & Roizen: Energy Fact and Fiction The Truth About Your Lagging Energy Level) Others tout the effects of cultural expectations and the weight of the world. Therefore the gradual loss of energy is probably due to a combination of these factors.
Of the vast number of things that effect energy levels, a primary physiological target would be to look at the energy currency of the cell; ATP, and what regulates its production. Mitochondria, the energy house of the cell, are the primary producers of ATP especially the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which sets up a proton gradient through the transfer of electrons down a intramembranous chain, the final electron acceptor being oxygen. The addition of an electron to Oxygen can be dangerous, a Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is created from the single addition of an electron to oxygen, creating a free radical chain initiation. ROS are known to cause molecular compartment damage, oxidative deterioration of DNA , lipids and proteins. As mitochondria are the primary producers of ROS it is believed that they are also preferentially effected, causing deterioration in the efficiency of the oxidative pathway. Over time free radical damage would accumulate, and the bodies clean up/repair mechanisms and antioxidant pathways will eventually let mistakes slip by. So as time passes and toddlers become teenagers the free radical effects would lead to a lessened production of ATP, causing the slow effects of aging and leading to the couch potato syndrome.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184498/?tool=pubmed
J Signal Transduct. 2012; 2012: 646354. Published online 2011 October 2. doi: 10.1155/2012/646354
Of the vast number of things that effect energy levels, a primary physiological target would be to look at the energy currency of the cell; ATP, and what regulates its production. Mitochondria, the energy house of the cell, are the primary producers of ATP especially the mitochondrial electron transport chain, which sets up a proton gradient through the transfer of electrons down a intramembranous chain, the final electron acceptor being oxygen. The addition of an electron to Oxygen can be dangerous, a Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is created from the single addition of an electron to oxygen, creating a free radical chain initiation. ROS are known to cause molecular compartment damage, oxidative deterioration of DNA , lipids and proteins. As mitochondria are the primary producers of ROS it is believed that they are also preferentially effected, causing deterioration in the efficiency of the oxidative pathway. Over time free radical damage would accumulate, and the bodies clean up/repair mechanisms and antioxidant pathways will eventually let mistakes slip by. So as time passes and toddlers become teenagers the free radical effects would lead to a lessened production of ATP, causing the slow effects of aging and leading to the couch potato syndrome.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184498/?tool=pubmed
J Signal Transduct. 2012; 2012: 646354. Published online 2011 October 2. doi: 10.1155/2012/646354
