Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of senile dementia. Since the discovery in 1984 of the amyloid ?-peptide (A?) as the core protein of the senile plaques present in the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers, an immense amount of research has gone into mapping out the molecular basis of this debilitating disease. The aim of Alzheimer's Disease: Methods and Protocols is to bring together the main biochemical, cell biological, and molecular biological techniques and approaches that are being used to investigate the molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease. This volume begins with chapters of an introductory/ review nature. Chapter 1 provides a historical introduction to Alzheimer's d- ease with particular emphasis on the central role played by A? and its re- tion to tau. Chapter 2 examines the genetics underlying this neurodegenerative disease, covering the amyloid precursor protein, apolipoprotein E, and the presenilins. Chapter 3 presents an overview of currently available therapeutic agents and prospects for drugs of the future.

With the recent discovery that amyloid beta protein, the cause of plaques in Alzheimer's disease, is an antimicrobial peptide produced in response to infection, many researchers are focusing on the role infection plays in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Brain studies have also identified a number of different viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa in the postmortem brain specimens of Alzheimer's patients. Infection (particularly chronic, latent and persistent infections) causes an immune response that leads to inflammation and brain cell degeneration, which are characteristic features of Alzheimer's disease. Sources of infection in Alzheimer's disease vary from childhood infections to gut microbes that find their way into the brain as a result of aging, leaky gut syndrome, and increased permeability of the blood brain barrier. Studies and ongoing clinical trials show that treatment of viral and bacterial infections, as well as restoring a healthy balance to the gut microbiome, can reduce disease risk and improve symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. This book serves as an introduction to the human microbiome and the role that infection plays in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Distinguished physicians critically review the clinical consequences of the endocrinological changes that occur with aging-in both men and women-and examine the use of hormonal therapy to reduce them. Topics range from bone disease and water balance in all older people, to androgen deficiency in aging males, gynecomastia, and menopause. The authors also discuss Type II diabetes in persons over 65, emphasizing the cognitive benefits of good glycemia control, and the interaction of nutrition and metabolism, focusing on hypocholesterolemia, obesity, the anorexia of aging, trace elements, and vitamins. The aging of the sympathetic nervous system and its impact on hypertension in the elderly is also covered. Timely and authoritative, Endocrinology of Aging offers endocrinologists, geriatricians, and primary care physicians critical insight into the endocrine problems of our rapidly growing elderly population.

An essential reference source for teachers and other professionals in the fields of low vision, social work, geriatric medicine, and other areas of public health. It provides insightful analyses of both practical and public policy issues related to aging and visual impairment, giving readers a broad range of perspectives.

In this volume of Reviews of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology there a contributions by M.D. Swope, E. Lolis, F.Hofmann, L. Lacinova, N. Klugbauer, M. Hermann, P. Berger, S.S. Shen, J.S. Kim, M.E. Weksler, M. Hirsch-Kauffmann and M.Schweiger.

" Genetic Aberrancies and Neurodegenerative Disorders" presents critical reviews and emerging findings concerning the roles of genetic mutations and polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of a range of neurological disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, trinucleotide repeat disorders, stroke, epilepsy and others. This volume, written by leading experts, brings together fundamental information concerning the roles of inherited traits in the pathogenesis of different neurodegenerative disorders. In addition to providing a catalogue of the known genetic alterations that are linked to specific neurodegenerative disorders, the chapters detail the current state of understanding of the cellular and biochemical mechanisms whereby the genetic aberrancies lead to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration. The emerging picture of each disorder, painted by pathological, biochemical and molecular brushes, suggests that they share key mechanisms including increased levels of oxidative stress, perturbed ion homeostasis, mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptotic proteolytic cascades. The existence of specific molecular defects provides the opportunity to design experiments that can establish the precise pathogenic mechanism of a specific mutation or genetic risk factor. The value of this approach is exemplified by recent studies of how mutations in Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and how presenilin mutations result in early-onset Alzheimer's disease. A theme developed among the different chapters is that events that occur during aging predispose neurons to genetic aberrancies that promote degenerative cascades, and that specific genetic defects exert their influence on particular populations of neurons in a disorder-specific manner. The chapters in this volume will stimulate readers to generate new hypotheses concerning the pathogenic mechanisms of genetic aberrancies that can be experimentally tested.

The aging of society is a growing concern in all advanced nations, and at the forefront of concern is long-term care for frail older people. Enactment of a new public long-term care insurance program by the Japanese government in 1997 provided an excellent opportunity for a conference focusing on an ideal long-term care system for frail older people. The conference was organized around four major themes: Social aspects, including family dynamics and the role of formal providers; Clinical aspects, including effective treatments for physical and mental disabilities; Macroeconomic and macropolitical settings for public policy; Program design and management issues. With contributions from the fields of medicine, nursing, social work, gerontology, political science, economics, and sociology, this volume provides an overview of key problems and possible solutions in programs for frail older people from a unique international perspective.

To a certain extent the dementias have been forgotten diseases until just recen tly when they were brought to the attention of the general public and health authorities as a result of the increasing number of cases in the aging popula tion, especially among famous people, and because of the efforts of private foundations. The goals of the present volume are to present the dementias to health prac titioners, to provide some basic information on their epidemiology and biolo gical basis and to discuss the diagnostic and clinical problems that physicians and institutions face when caring for demented patients. This book explores the various types of dementias and is not limited to Alzheimer's disease although, as expected, more information is available and presented on this pathology. On the other hand, a few fundamental questions on dementia can only be answe red through a comparison of the various forms. Examples of such questions are the following: Is the loss of cerebral tissue sufficient to cause dementia? Are there thresholds or is there a continuous progression toward the irreversible development of dementia? Are there common pathways in the dementing pro cess? Are there common risk factors? Comparative analysis allows the common and distinctive patterns of the various dementias to be defined, ultimately lea ding to more focused therapeutic interventions."

De cibo quod superest nobis sufficit; oportet gratias agere. Some elders have accepted this proposition, although seldom with enthu- siasm. Gerontologists also have been burdened with the adage: "Leftovers are good enough for us, and we should be grateful for them." I remember how a clerk tried to palm off astale and cheap cigar to her octogenarian customer. He knew better and carne away with a far superior smoke. The clerk fumed, "What does he need a good cigar for? Who is he to be particular!" In this and in many other ways, elders often have labored under the sociocultural expectation that they should be well content with whatever scraps and shmattes happen to come their way. Gerontologists can identify with this situation. The systematic study of aging and the aged was a new enterprise at the midpoint of this century, but the concepts and methods were pretty much limited to those already on hand. What biological and sociobehavioral scientists had been doing for years was simply extended to the newly annexed territory. This as not only a convenient but also a cost-effective strategy. Data accumulated more rapidly by remaining within familiar frarnes of reference and relying on farniliar designs and mea- sures. The new gerontologists soon harvested a promising crop of descriptive findings. Within a decade after the establishment of the Gerontological Society of America (1947), it was possible to discern the outlines of a valuable new field of knowledge.

This book, Recent Advances in Geriatrics, is based on the proceedings of the 8th Course of the School of Gerontology and Geriatrics held in Erice (Trapani, Italy) at the In ternational Centre for Scientific Culture "Ettore Majorana" on March 20-25, 1997. This international effort was organized jointly by professors from the University of Palermo (It aly) and from Wayne State University (Michigan, USA) as a result of a cross-cultural col laboration of several years. _ The increasing average age of the populations in industrialized countries has re sulted in increased interest in the different biological, medical, psychological, and eco nomic aspects related to the health and social care of the elderly. Physicians and health care practitioners are realizing the need for a revised approach to geriatric care. Comprising contributions of clinicians and scientists from Italy and North America, the present volume provides a multidisciplinary approach to many gerontological and geriatric problems, examined from a scientific and a practical point of view. Several of the most important aspects of the aging process - the genetics of aging, body composition modification, immunological, endocrinological, and renal physiology changes - have been addressed. Data from a multi-center Italian study on centenarians is reported, to gether with an update on clinical and pharmacological approaches to dementia syndromes and economic and social aspects related to the care of the elderly."

This book arises from a conference held in November 1996 designed to examine how competence can be improved in the different stages ofthe lifespan. To this end, we brought together eminent researchers in different areas of human development-infancy, childhood, and adulthood, including the late adult years. The conference was based on the premise that discussion arising from the interfaces of research and practice would increase our knowledge of and stimulate the further application of effective interventions designed to improve competence. The editors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Concordia University and the Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l'Aide a la Recherche (FCAR) in providing funding and other assistance toward the conference "Improving Competence Across the Lifespan" and toward the publication of this book. Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to the numerous students associated with our Centre for their help and to Gail Pitts and Lesley Husband of the Centre for Research in Human Development for their assistance. We are especially grateful to Donna Craven, Centre for Research in Human Development, for her heroic work on both the conference and the present volume. We could not have met our goals without you.

In this timely volume, prestigious contributors incorporate new knowledge from general psychology into a more comprehensive and accessible view of emotion in adult development and aging. The first chapter sets the stage by providing an overview of emotion across the entire life-span. Subsequent chapters examine and consider thought-provoking themes including: how feelings are used in interpersonal communication across the years of adulthood; the linkage between stressful life events and the occurrence of disease; and the changes in emotional intensity and emotional understanding as we age. This volume is essential for general psychologists, gerontologists, researchers, and geriatric practitioners desiring to better their understanding of their older patients and clients.
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Ageing, Cancer and the Genome. Genetics of Ageing and Multifactorial Diseases; P.E. Slagboom, D.L. Knook. Ageing and Cancer: A Struggle of Tendencies; A. Derventzi, et al. Maintaining the Stability of the Genome; A. Burkle. Nuclear-Mitochondrial Interactions Involved in Biological Ageing; H.D. Osiewacz. From Genes to Functional Gene Products During Ageing; L. Brock Andersen, et al. Cells, Systems and Organisms. Ageing of Cells in Vitro; S. Shall. Stress and Energy Metabolism in Age-Related Processes; O. Toussaint, J. Remacle. Growth Factors and Ageing: The Case of Wound Healing;D. Stathakos, et al.

There is a near-universal folk saying that everyone wishes to live a good long life, but no one wishes for old age. More contemporarily, the rock and roll band, Little Feat, sang, "You know that you're over the hill when your mind's making promises your body can't fill. " This book is about the good long life. It is a book about primary prevention strategies in the aging process; it is not about preventing that process. It is not about being old. Instead, it is about the things that individuals - and the helping professionals who provide them with counsel and assistance - can do to prevent the preventable problems of advancing age, and to better manage those changes in functioning that cannot be prevented. In short, it is about extending all our capacities to the fullest so that we can better keep all those promises that we make to ourselves and others. Aging is a life-long process. We focus here on the changes that are taking place in our selves and in our society as we age. In particular, we focus on what we can do to affect these changes by the choices we make and how we live. This book offers primary prevention strategies for mature and older adults, with the recognition that mature adulthood starts as soon as we are old enough to truly appreciate our active role in our own aging processes.

The current edition of Video Microscopy has been totally revised to reflect the advances in the tools for electronic imaging, processing, recording, and analysis, as well as applications that are being made in video microscopy and related modes of electronic imaging. The less spiral organization of the revised edition reflects an audience expected to be more experi enced in video and computer image processing than in the earlier days when coupling of video equipment and computers to the light microscope was still considered to be a novelty. Nevertheless, we have emphasi2;ed the how-tos, as well as the fundamental principles, involved in imaging and processing ih the light microscope, the human visual system, video and related electronic imaging, and the digital image processor in the hope that the reader will develop enough understanding, not only to apply rationally what is available, but also to contribute actively to the development of this evolving field. In the text, the terms appearing in the Glossary are printed in bold type, generally, at first appearance. Italics are used for emphasis.

Human stories are the core of identity and meaning. This book is an invitation to the engaging and reforming power of telling stories. It is also an invitation to heal the story of health care for older adults by improving the communication between professionals in medicine, psychology, and religion.

At any age the process of genuinely listening and expressing hopes and fears is an intimacy rarely matched in human interaction. Life stories can be told, revised, and rewritten through psychotherapy and improved by a health care which integrates the best of medicine, religion, and psychology. This book invites health care reform by renewing old principles. Through clinical experience, research, and listening to seniors and their families, life stories can be retold to promote healthy treatment and healthy aging. This book will be of interest to students and professionals in psychology, medicine, nursing, religion, and social work.

Human aging is perhaps the most complex and important subject that will be facing science and societies in the next century. People seem to be living longer and remaining more active than their parents and grandparents, caused by to social and demographic shifts that must be accommodated by society. On the other hand it presents perplexing questions about the underlying processes and determinants of healthy aging. This book gives a design for research that will increase our understanding of the factors that influence healthy aging and can lead to improvements in reducing the levels of disability in the population. Its focus is on bio-behavioural and psychological factors contributing to healthy aging. Since human aging is determined by many interacting conditions inside and outside of the organism, research should concentrate on ecological relationships between the human organism and its social and physical environment. Not only individual characteristics associated with aging are discussed in this book, but also their impacts on society. The information presented in 'Aging in Europe' has not been available in any single source before. In many ways this book provides a model of gaining knowledge through cooperation that should guide us in the next century and beyond.

nly two things are certain in life, one is that all of us will inevita Obly grow older, the other is that at some point during or at the end of this process we shall die. Inherent to the passage of time is a deterio ration in the structural and functional integrity of our bodies, this pro gressing to such an extent that one or more organ systems will eventu ally begin to fail with the continued health and well-being of the individual coming under threat. Age-associated deficiencies in the musculo-skeletal, cardiovascular, or endocrine systems producing arthri tis, hypertension, stroke or diabetes are all too apparent in our elderly population yet internally caused failures in the function of the nervous system provide the common, and mostly intractable, problems of memory and intellect or locomotion that face and frustrate clinicians. Perhaps the most important factor which can decide the outcome of research studies professing to examine the effects of the passage of time (i. e. the 'process of aging') on the function of the nervous system, or indeed any other organ system, is the selection of appropriate or repre sentative subjects for investigation. The heart of this problem lies in defining what might be considered as 'normal' aging as distinct from age-associated disease; setting the 'goal posts of normality' continues to 1 be a matter of considerable debate."

Leaders in neuropsychology, behavioral neurology, speech and language science, neuropsychiatry, and many other disciplines contribute to this volume, the first comprehensive review of knowledge in the field. They discuss a wide range of disorders, including areas of recent research - such as frontal lobe dementias and the neuropsychological aspects of late life depression - and clinical problems typically given insufficient consideration in other works, such as seizure disorder, head injury, and mental retardation. Normal aging is also covered in detail, and assessment procedures and clinical interventions are given thorough treatment. Other highlights include discussions of guardianship and caregiving personality and behavior, psychotic disorders, Alzheimer's, and head trauma.

The contributors to this volume provide an overview of each component of the acute and long-term care service continuum, including managed health care, subacute care, nursing homes, community care case management, and private case management. This volume is one of the first efforts to place these varied approaches side-by-side, highlighting the gaps and areas of duplication in the services delivery system.

In addition, chapters address the emerging practices in long-term care financing and assisted living as well as the conceptual issues that need to be resolved to achieve acute and chronic care integration. This volume is of primary importance to professionals involved in long-term care, including administration, community nursing, social work, case management, discharge planning and policy.

Most studies of geriatric patients have focused on nursing homes. In fact, most people are placed in these institutions only after being evaluated by medical and social service staff. This ethnography details the day-to-day experiences of a geriatric and assessment unit by examining the staff, families, and patients themselves. It looks at the activities that take place in the unit as well as the less obvious cultural patterns of the process. Using the Ethnography of Speaking method, it explores the human side of this most difficult of life's decisions.

This volume reviews the new potential treatments and research in the area of Alzheimer's disease. Special attention is given to international developments in all fields relevant to new drug development. Topics discussed include: progress in the international harmonization of drug development guidelines for dementia drugs; bioethics and law; development of rating instruments; behavioural treatments; and the activities of the Reagan Foundation. The text integrates basic and clinical research findings, and provides evaluation of new approaches to therapy by world leaders in the field. The potential benefit for Alzheimer patients and families resulting from these research programmes, from molecular biology to clinical pharmacology, is reviewed and evaluated.

The proportion of elderly people continues to increase in the western world-nearly a quarter of the population will be over 65 years by the year 2050. Since aging is accompanied by an increase in diseases and by a deterioration in well-being, finding solutions to these social, medical and psychological problems is necessarily a major goal for society. Scientists and medical practitioners are therefore faced with the urgent task of increasing basic knowledge of the biological processes that cause aging. More resources must be put into this research in order to achieve better understanding of the cellular mechanisms that underlie the differences in life span between species and to answer the difficult questions of why some individuals age more quickly than others, and why some develop liver problems, some have heart problems, and others brain problems. The results of such a wide program of research will provide important information about the causes of many life-threatening and/ or debilitating diseases of old age; it will help find ways to prevent some of the ailments that result from aging, and it may well lead to discoveries enabling the prolongation of human life.

Current issues in the public health arena have challenged the system to broaden its traditional focus on infectious disease to include chronic disease as well. As this change in emphasis takes place, professionals must be prepared to address the special chronic health concerns of older people living in the community. This textbook meets the training needs of those professionals. Public Health and Aging examines the role of public health in the planning, coordination, and delivery of health promotion and disease prevention services to older people living outside of institutional settings. Here, experts in the areas of health care policy and care of aged persons analyze the scientific basis for the practice of public health in an increasingly aging society. Reviewing a wide range of the social, cultural, financial, and environmental factors that influence the health experiences of older population groups, the authors delve into the epidemiology of age-related chronic illnesses, program development, methodological issues, data collection and analysis, strategies for intervention, and ethics. From outlines for community-based program planning and development to discussions about the future challenges for health care systems and services, this book is an ideal reference for gerontology, public policy, and public health professionals and professionals in training. "Pulling together experts with diverse backgrounds in public health and aging, Public Health and Aging is the first book in nearly ten years to take such a comprehensive public health approach to the evaluation of care for the aging members of our society. The book is a 'who's who' in the field and promises to be a classic textbook in the areas of aging and public health."--Marcia Ory, Ph.D., Chief of the Social Science Research on Aging program at the National Institute on Aging