Aging Research

Scientists who study aging now generally agree that it is malleable and capable of being slowed. Rapid progress in recent years toward understanding and making use of this malleability has paved the way for breakthroughs that will increase human health in later life by opposing the primary risk factor for virtually every disease we face as we grow older—aging itself. Better understating of this “common denominator” of disease could usher in a new era of preventive medicine, enabling interventions that stave off everything from dementia to cancer to osteoporosis.

Therapies that delay aging would lessen our healthcare system’s dependence on the relatively inefficient strategy of trying to redress diseases of aging one at a time, often after it is too late for meaningful benefit. They would also address the fact that while advances in lowering mortality from heart attack and stroke have dramatically increased life expectancy, they have left us vulnerable to other age-related diseases and disorders that develop in parallel, such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and frailty. Properly focused and funded research could benefit millions of people by adding active, healthy, and productive years to life. Furthermore, the research will provide insights into the causes of and strategies for reducing the periods of disability that generally occur at the end of life. As University of Michigan gerontologist Richard Miller aptly puts it, “The goal isn’t to prolong the survival of someone who is old and sick, but to postpone the period of being old and sick. Not to produce a lot more standard-issue 100-year-olds, but to produce a brand new kind of 100-year-old person.”

For a definition of aging research and additional background information, visit the Google Knol page created by the Alliance.

Related Publications

• Alliance in the News
  TCV Interview-Can Biomarkers Really Predict AD?
  
  January 26, 2012 | Brenda Avadian, MA
  Related topics: Aging Research  Alzheimer's Disease  Drug Development  Policy  
  
  

  The Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) Biomarker Expert Working Group just published a new paper in Neurobiology of Aging. They recommend that certain AD biomarkers be used for clinical assessments, enrolling study participants, and as an outcome in AD clinical trials.

  Biomarkers, Alzheimer's, and clinical trials can help find AD faster and can lead to more effective treatments for AD.

  Really?

  The Caregiver’s Voice asked two questions in reference to excerpts from Use Biomarkers in Alzheiemr's Disease Clinical Trials.

• Podcast
  CER Interview with Dr. James Goodwin (UK)
  
  January 24, 2012
  Related topics: Aging Research  Drug Development  Drug Safety  Health  Medical Innovation  Policy  Research  Vision Loss  
  
  
  James Goodwin, PhD, is the Head of Research in Age UK, the new organization which resulted from the merger of Age Concern England and Help the Aged. The mission of Age UK is to improve the lives of older people.
  
  He holds a visiting professorship at Loughborough University in the Department of Human Sciences. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal ‘Quality in Aging’ in the UK. He sits on numerous expert bodies, including the UN Research Agenda for Aging panel, the UN Digital Health Group, a WHO Advisory Group, scientific advisory panels of the research councils and is Chair of the Halcyon Knowledge Transfer Steering Committee at UCL. He is a member of a Ministerial Advisory Group on Dementia Research for the UK Government.
  
  Professor Goodwin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Keele University, UK. After graduation he read for a Master’s in Human Physiology at Loughborough University and then for a PhD in climatic physiology at the Postgraduate Medical School, University of Exeter. His research area was the effects of temperature variations on the autonomic cardiovascular responses of older people, an area highly relevant to the issue of climate change and older people’s health. His other area of expertise is knowledge transfer, sitting on the advisory Board of KT-EQUAL, as a panel member of the LLHW Program and as an adviser to Imperial College on their age-related research in the Faculty of Engineering.
  
  "It is my personal opinion that the decisions I see made by NICE, would be met with stupefaction by people in the United States."
  
  
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• Podcast
  CER Interview with Barbara McLaughlan
  
  January 6, 2012
  Related topics: Aging Research  Drug Development  Drug Safety  Medical Innovation  Policy  Research  Vision Loss  
  
  
  Barbara McLaughlan is the Policy & Campaigns Manager at the Royal National Institute of Blind People(RNIB). At RNIB, McLaughlan has played a major role in the successful campaign to ensure that patients with wet age-related macular degeneration are given treatment with new anti-VEGF treatments on the NHS. Access to treatment remains a major focus of her work as well as running several eye health promotion projects. Ms. McLaughlan is also the Chair of Patients involved in NICE (PIN), an independent group made up of patient and voluntary organizations that work closely with NICE.
  
  

  "From a patient’s perspective, if I were the patient I would always say ‘I want the licensed treatment because that’s gone through all the trials and I can be absolutely sure about what I’m getting, plus there is monitoring of outcomes and possible adverse events following licensing and use in clinical practice.”
  

  
  
  
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