Immune aging and challenges for immune protection of the graying population.
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: The trajectory for increased numbers of older adults aged ≥65 years worldwide [1, 2] has become a subject of great interest in many circles, from policymakers, to scientists and physicians, and to entrepreneurs of so-called anti-aging products [3–7]. For developing countries, much of the interest on aging relates to social concerns about an associated projection for increased poverty [8]. Aging and longer survivorship in these countries are also considered significant contributing factors to anticipated greater incidences of non-communicable chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions, and therefore add to their already heavy burden of communicable diseases [9]. For industrialized countries, much of the social interest on aging seems to be driven by the escalating cost of health care [10]. Indeed, socioeconomic studies on aging, dying, and survivorship for the United States alone has led to a prediction for a 50 to 69% increase in the per capita cost of personal care for elderly Americans between their 65th and 85th years of life [11]. This is considered a conservative prediction that further puts into question the future sustainability of the US health care system, a national issue that is currently muddled by political party ideology rather than by serious rational discourse.
This health-centric view of aging and survivorship permeates into the Sciences. Epidemiological and observational studies have been showing not only the overall age-related increases of chronic diseases such as diabetes, breast cancer, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis, but also the insidious onset of some of these diseases in late life [12–14]. Genetic studies on humans, mice, and lower taxa of animals have been uncovering genes encoding for longevity [15–17], with some genes or their variants associated either with poorer health or with maintenance of good health into old age [18–21]. Clinical studies have been advancing novel concepts of functional independence or dependence based on new discoveries about the unique physiology of aging [22–25]. And translational studies have been developing new models of elder care [26, 27] with corresponding innovation on interventions to promote better health in old age [28–30].
Source: Europe PMC (PubMed Central)
Author: Abbe N Vallejo
Language: English
Subfield: Aging
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Institute on Aging
OpenAlex ID: W1632447356