Created August 8th, 1996. Copyright 1996 by Duane Hewitt
In the July 5th issue of _Science_ the feature topic of the issue is "Patterns of Aging". Summary articles and abstracts from this issue are available online. This is a milestone for the emerging interdisciplinary field of biogerontology.
There have been several recent advances in the field of aging research which have been prominent in the heavyweight weekly journals _Science_ and _Nature_. (Also featured in Breakthrough!) This marks the movement of biogerontology from a field in the "backwaters of biology" to a prominent area of research.
There are several demographic factors that seem to ensure this field will have a rosy future in terms of funding and interest. The segment of the population 85 and older is the most rapidly growing age group in North America. This growing population will inform us as well as challenge us regarding the problems of aging. As the Baby Boomers head into retirement it is my expectation that they will not go quietly. It will be up to them to push the envelope to discover which limitations are biological and which are socially imposed. It will then be their task to ignore the latter and to circumvent the former.
The average life expectancy of someone in a developed country has expanded from 47 years to 76 years in just over a century. This has been through reductions in infant mortality, deaths due to childbirth, and new treatments for infectious diseases. These results did not come from a better fundamental understanding of the aging process itself. We are in a very real sense in a race against time. We are at the beginning and maybe we will witness some remarkable victories in our time, even ones that may extend our own lifespans.
The oldest American died this week due to a stroke. She was believed to be 120 years old though there is no supporting documentation to that effect. This illustrates a problem with tracking the ages of the oldest old, many of them are older than modern record keeping. Therefore with passing time we will be better able to analyse mortality rates among the oldest segment of the population which seem to have some interesting characteristics. Those 85 and older as a group are healthier in many ways than those two decades younger. This may be due to a selection for hardier individuals at later ages.
The field of aging is of relevance to us all and we live in interesting times in this field as the _Science_ focus articles illustrate.
Come back for further updates! Please send any further information that you may have about Aging Research to duane@immortality.org
Disclaimer- I am not a doctor or medical professional. Please act accordingly.