Aging Changes
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We don’t know very much about the few men and women
who have lived to 115 years of age or more, but we can
assume that they eluded the diseases that kill many people in
their 70s and 80s. At 122, Jeanne Calment, for instance,
had lived a relatively disease-free life. In fact, escape from
infectious disease is the most common reason that all of us
can now expect to live longer than our grandparents.
Chronic diseases and disability were once thought inseparable from old age.
This view is changing rapidly as one disease after another joins the ranks of
those that can be prevented or at least controlled, often through changes in
lifestyle.
We now know, for example, that most people can avoid lung disease by not smoking.
And heart disease and stroke rates have fallen at the same time that Americans
have lowered their fat consumption, begun to exercise more, and quit smoking.
So if chronic disease is not intrinsic to the aging process, as many gerontologists
now believe, then what is? Are there universal or “normal” aging processes?
Unlike most of us, Satchel Paige was never quite sure of his birth year. “My
birth certificate was in our (family) Bible, and the goat ate the Bible,” he
said. But even had he known his chronological age, it may not have shed much
light on how old he was physiologically. In fact, gerontologists are discovering
that age in years doesn’t necessarily correlate with physiological age.
For decades, investigators at the NIA have compiled data on heart function,
lung capacity, and numerous other bodily functions in hopes that this information
may one day be used to
establish definitive measures
of physiological aging. In
theory, these biomarkers
would be more precise
indicators of aging than
chronological age itself.
Once established, these
biomarkers could make it
easier to study normal aging,
diseases, and possible interventions.
So far, however,
no such biomarkers have
been identified in humans.
In fact, normal
physiological aging is
quite variable, according
to investigators involved in
the Baltimore Longitudinal
Study of Aging, a long-term
NIA study begun in 1958 that
has tracked the lives of more
than 1,000 people from age
20 to 90 and beyond. Not
only do individuals age overall
at vastly different rates,
it is quite likely that agerelated
changes in various
cells, tissues, and organs
differ as well. For instance,
kidney function may decline
more rapidly in some individuals.
In others, bone
strength may diminish faster.
The organs that age fastest in
one person may not age as
rapidly in another. This suggests
that genes, lifestyle, and
disease can all affect the rate
of aging and that several distinct
processes are involved.
Although this diversity lessens the likelihood of finding biomarkers of aging
in humans, the quest for these indicators has yielded many insights into the
physiology of two organ systems that may have important roles in the aging process.
One of these is the endocrine system. The other is the immune system.
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When Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan contracted pneumonia
and died in 1986 at the reputed age of 120, it was his immune system that failed.
One of the many bacteria or viruses that cause pneumonia broke through the elaborate,
natural defenses that protect humans from infection. Scientists have long known
that these defenses decline with age; now, some of the underlying mechanisms
are coming to light.
A multiplicity of cells, substances, and organs make up the immune system.
The thymus, spleen, tonsils, bone marrow, and lymphatic system, for example,
produce, store, and transport a host of cells and substances— B-lymphocytes
and T-lymphocytes, antibodies, interleukins, and interferon, to name a few.
Several are of special interest to gerontologists. These include the class of
white blood cells called lymphocytes, which fight invading bacteria and other
foreign cells.
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Individuals age at extremely different rates. In fact even within one
person, organs and organ systems show different rates of decline.
However, some generalities can be made, based on data from the
Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
HEART
Heart muscle thickens with age. Maximal oxygen consumption during exercise
declines in men by about 10 percent with each decade of adult life and in women
by about 7.5 percent. This decline occurs because the heart’s maximum pumping
rate and the body’s ability to extract oxygen from blood both diminish with
age.
ARTERIES
Arteries tend to stiffen with age. The older heart, in turn, needs to supply
more force to propel the blood forward through the less elastic arteries.
LUNGS
Maximum breathing (vital) capacity may decline by about 40 percent between
the ages of 20 and 70.
BRAIN
With age, the brain loses some of the structures (axons) that connect nerve
cells (neurons) to each other, although the actual number of neurons seems to
be less affected. The ability of individual neurons to function may diminish
with age. Recent studies indicate that the adult nervous system is capable of
producing new neurons, but the exact conditions that are critical for this have
yet to be determined.
KIDNEYS
Kidneys gradually become less efficient at extracting wastes from the blood.
BLADDER
Bladder capacity declines. Urinary incontinence, which may occur after tissues
atrophy, particularly in women, can often be managed through exercise and behavioral
techniques.
BODY FAT
Typically, body fat gradually increases in adulthood until individuals reach
middle age. Then it usually stabilizes until late life, when body weight tends
to decline. As weight falls, older individuals tend to lose both muscle and
body fat. With age, fat is redistributed in the body, shifting from just beneath
the skin to deeper organs. Women typically have a higher percentage of body
fat than men. However, because of differences in how this fat is distributed—on
the hips and thighs in women and on the abdomen in men—women may be less susceptible
to certain conditions including heart disease.
MUSCLES
Without exercise, estimated muscle mass declines 22 percent for women and 23
percent for men between the ages of 30 and 70. Exercise can slow this rate of
loss.
BONES
Bone mineral is lost and replaced throughout life; loss begins to outstrip
replacement around age 35. This loss accelerates in women at menopause. Regular
weight bearing exercise—walking, running, strength training— can slow bone loss.
SIGHT
Difficulty focusing close up may begin in the 40s; the ability to distinguish
fine details may begin to decline in the 70s. From 50 on, there is increased
susceptibility to glare, greater difficulty in seeing at low levels of illumination,
and more difficulty in detecting moving objects.
HEARING
It becomes more difficult to hear higher frequencies with age. Even older individuals
who have good hearing thresholds may experience difficulty in understanding
speech, especially in situations where there is background noise. Hearing declines
more quickly in men than in women.
PERSONALITY
Personality is extraordinarily stable throughout adulthood. Generally, it does
not change radically, even in the face of major events in life such as retirement,
job loss, or death of loved ones. However, there are exceptions. Certain individuals
facing these and other lifealtering circumstances can and do show signs of personality
change during the final years of life. An easy-going individual who loses a
job after many years, for instance, may become disillusioned and develop a sullen
disposition. But these out-ofcharacter reversals of personality are relatively
rare.
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Lymphocytes fall into two major classes: B-cells and T-cells. B-cells mature
in the bone marrow, and one of their functions is to secrete antibodies in response
to infectious agents or antigens. T-cells develop in the thymus, which shrinks
in size as people age; they are divided into cytotoxic T-cells and helper T-cells.
Cytotoxic T-cells attack infected or damaged cells directly. Helper T-cells
produce powerful chemicals, called lymphokines, that mobilize other immune system
substances and cells.
T-cells and their lymphokine products have intrigued gerontologists ever since
it was learned that T-cells—or more precisely the functioning population of
T-cells—declines with age. While the number of T-cells remains about the same,
the proportion of them that proliferate and function declines. Studies have
also shown that in older people, T-cells destroyed by stresses such as irradiation
or cancer chemotherapy take longer to renew than they do in younger people.
Most research on the aging immune system now centers on these cells. One group
of T-cell products, interleukins, is found at different levels as people age.
The interleukins—there are more than 20 identified so far—serve as messengers,
relaying signals that regulate the immune response. Some, like interleukin-6,
rise with age, and it is speculated that they interfere in some way with the
immune response. Others, like interleukin-2, which stimulates T-cell proliferation,
tend to fall with age. Gerontologists study the interleukins, not only for clues
to the mechanisms of aging, but also for their potential in the detection and
treatment of immune problems.
Meanwhile, compelling evidence suggests one intervention —caloric restriction—
may counteract some of the natural declines in the immune system as well as
in other physiological systems of aging animals.
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An inventor, statesman, diplomat, and scientist, Benjamin Franklin was a true
Renaissance man renowned for his sage advice. Among his many pearls of wisdom:
“To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals.” Nearly 275 years later, gerontologists
are finding those words may turn out to be amazingly prophetic.
Since the 1930s, investigators have consistently found that laboratory rats
and mice live up to 40 percent longer than usual when fed a diet that has at
least 30 percent fewer calories than they would normally consume. The animals
that eat this nutritionally balanced diet, which provides healthful amounts
of protein, fat, and vitamins and minerals, also appear to be more resistant
to age-related diseases. In fact, caloric restriction appears to delay normal
age-related degeneration of almost all physiological systems. And so far, caloric
restriction has increased the lifespans of nearly every animal species studied
including protozoa, fruit flies, mice, and other laboratory animals. Now investigators
are exploring whether and how caloric restriction will affect aging in monkeys
and other nonhuman primates, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.
Why calorically restricted animals live far beyond their normal lifespans remains
unclear. Because cutting down on calories slows metabolism, and free radicals
are byproducts of metabolism, caloric restriction may reduce oxidative damage
to cells. Calorie restricted animals also have less glucose circulating in their
blood than their freely feeding counterparts. This may lessen the potential
for protein crosslinking, a biochemical process implicated in cellular aging.
And because caloric restriction lowers body temperature slightly, cells may
sustain less genetic damage than at normal body temperature. In addition, scientists
speculate that caloric restriction preserves the capacity of cells to proliferate,
and that it keeps the immune system functioning at youthful levels. Caloric
restriction also may work through other mechanisms. It may, for instance, influence
hormonal balance, cell senescence, or gene expression. Or, it might work through
a combination of all of these mechanisms, plus other factors.
Many gerontologists are particularly intrigued by findings suggesting that
animals on calorie restricted diets have reduced rates of disease. In one of
the largest studies to date, Roderick Bronson, D.V.M., at Tufts University found
that caloric restriction not only extended lifespan in mice, but also prevented
or slowed down development of every disease and all types of tumors. Other rodent
studies have found that caloric restriction may increase resistance of neurons
in the brain to dysfunction and death. These results, described as “stunning”
by gerontologists, have raised hope that further study of caloric restriction
will help uncover the mechanisms responsible for disease in old age.
However, whether caloric restriction might have the same effect in primates
remains a major question. In studies underway at NIA, rhesus and squirrel monkeys
are growing up on a calorically restricted diet. Similar studies are also ongoing
at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Maryland. Preliminary results
from these studies show some promising early signs of improved health—including
greater resistance to diabetes and heart disease—in these primates as they age.
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At the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, Maryland, about 75 rhesus and
squirrel monkeys are on diets; they eat 30 percent less than they would
normally but get all the necessary nutrients. Another 75 monkeys, the
control group, are eating as much as they want. The differences between
the two groups, as they age, are beginning to provide insights into how
caloric restriction influences lifespan.
The monkeys that arrived at the Poolesville laboratory in 1987 have responded
to caloric restriction as expected; their maturation, measured by factors
such as skeletal development and onset of puberty, has been delayed by
about a year or year and a half. This is comparable to the delays in maturation
seen in calorically restricted rodents.
As the monkeys continue to grow into middle age and beyond, Donald Ingram,
Ph.D., and his colleagues at the NIA’s Gerontology Research Center in
Baltimore, where the project is coordinated, are monitoring dozens of
signs of aging, ranging from immune response to activity level to antioxidant
levels to fingernail growth. The measurements are being compared with
those of the monkeys in the control group and should provide leads to
some of the mechanisms at work in caloric restriction.
The monkeys on the restricted diet are smaller and weigh about 20 percent
less than monkeys in the control group. However, the calorically restricted
monkeys are no less physically active than animals allowed to eat at will.
So far, some positive trends have been detected, including the possibility
of reduced incidence of heart disease and cancer in the calorically restricted
monkeys. But it is important to keep in mind that these data are preliminary,
and investigators caution that it may be many more years before it can
be determined if caloric restriction does indeed improve the health and
extend the lifespan of aging primates.
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Regular physical activity may be the most important thing an older person can
do to stay healthy and self-reliant. In fact, the more exercise you can do in
later life, the better off you’ll be. Studies suggest regular, sustained exercise
can help prevent or delay some diseases and disabilities as people grow older.
And, in some cases, it can actually improve some of these conditions in older
people who already have them. In a study conducted at Tufts University in Boston,
for instance, some people age 80 and older were able to progress from using
walkers to using canes after doing simple musclebuilding exercises for just
10 weeks. In addition, physical activity can improve your mood, lessen your
risk of developing adult-onset diabetes, slow bone loss, and reduce your risk
of heart attack and stroke.
Endurance exercises such as brisk walking increase your stamina and improve
the health of your heart, lungs and circulatory system. Strength exercises build
muscles and reduce your risk of osteoporosis. Balance exercises help prevent
a major cause of disability in
older adults: falls. Flexibility or
stretching exercises help keep your
body limber. As part of a daily
routine, these exercises and
other physical activities
you enjoy can make a
difference in your life as
you get older.
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Yet even if caloric restriction is successful in primates, it is unlikely that
most people could maintain a diet of 30 percent fewer calories without drastic
and, in all probability, unpalatable changes in their eating habits. For this
reason, most gerontologists doubt that caloric restriction will ever become
a widespread means of extending the human lifespan. But investigators are exploring
the question of whether drugs might mimic its effects, negating the need for
sweeping alterations in diet. In rodent and other animal studies, gerontologists
are testing a number of synthetic substances that produce some of the same effects
as caloric restriction, such as reducing body temperature and lowering the amount
of insulin in the blood. So far, the preliminary results have been promising.
However, none of these substances has yet proved to extend lifespan, and some
have potentially toxic side effects that may make human use impractical. Still,
the search goes on. Meanwhile, it is becoming increasingly clear that lifestyle—particularly
diet and exercise—can have a powerful influence on how people age.
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Diet and exercise are thought to have a major impact on a constellation of
changes that are common with advancing age. These include higher levels of fats
or lipids in the blood, changing levels of blood sugar and insulin, a tendency
toward obesity, and increased central body fat that settles around the waist
and abdomen. These changes are so prevalent among older people that they have
been given a name, syndrome X. Many gerontologists are studying the possible
relationship between this syndrome and cardiovascular diseases.
Syndrome X may be preventable through low-fat and low-cholesterol diets, but
these are not the only aspects of nutrition that may influence life expectancy.
Gerontologists have been scrutinizing a wide range of nutrients with an eye
toward their role in aging processes. Calcium and vitamin D, for example, help
reduce the thinning of bones that accompanies aging in almost everyone but particularly
in older women, many of whom are at high risk for osteoporosis.
Researchers are also studying exercise as a behavioral factor that may have
an impact on how long we live or at least on how healthy we are in old age.
One landmark study at Tufts University in Boston has shown that exercise can
strengthen muscles, improve mobility, and reduce frailty even among 90-year-olds.
Exercises that put weight on bones, such as jogging, walking, and weight-lifting,
have been shown to strengthen them. Researchers, as a result, are exploring
the potential
of exercise to reduce the
risk of osteoporosis. This
condition, with its fragile,
easily broken bones, is a
major cause of fractures
among older people, frequently
resulting in disability,
and eventually leading to
institutionalization for many.
In some cases, drugs called
bisphosphonates help by
slowing calcium loss in bone.
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