Exploring the potential of poetry and poetic language as a means of conveying perspectives on ageing and later life, this book examines questions such as 'how can we understand ageing and later life?' and 'how can we capture the ambiguities and complexities that the experiences of growing old in time and place entail?' As poetic language illuminates, transfigures and enchants our being in the world, it also offers insights into the existential questions that are amplified as we age, including the vulnerabilities and losses that humble us and connect us. Literary gerontology and narrative gerontology have highlighted the importance of linguistic representations of ageing. While the former has been concerned primarily with the analysis of published literary works, the latter has foregrounded the individual and collective meaning making through narrative resources in old age. There has, however, been less interest in how poetic language, both as a genre and as a practice, can illuminate ageing. This volume suggests a path towards the poetics of ageing by means of presenting analyses of published poetry on ageing written by poets from William Shakespeare to Wallace Stevens; the use of reading and writing poetry among ordinary people in old age; and the poetic nuances that emerge from other literary practices and contexts in relation to ageing - including personal poetic reflections from many of the contributing authors. The volume brings together international scholars from disciplinary backgrounds as diverse as cultural psychology, literary studies, theology, sociology, narrative medicine, cultural gerontology and narrative gerontology, and will deploy a variety of empirical and critical methodologies to explore how poetry and poetic language may challenge dominant discourses and illuminate alternative understandings of ageing.

Maintaining physical and mental performance with a revolutionary diet that helps prevent age-related diseases. Sears explains that it is possible to reverse our 'biological' age (which is different to our 'chronological' age) if we look at our hormones and our diet. It is crucial to maintain the right balance of hormones in our bodies - ageing is not necessarily about the decreasing of certain hormones but rather how they effectively communicate with each other to maintain equilibrium. The Zone is a revolutionary diet plan which advocates a lower intake of carbohydrates which convert to sugar creating a diabetic-like condition. If we eat more protein and monosaturate fats we enter the Zone of optimum metabolic function. This diet has been proven in preventing age-related diseases: heart disease and diabetes (non-insulin dependent diabetes largely occurs in older age). Sears explores the activity of hormones as we age and gives a dietary plan (and supplement advice) to maintain peak performance: * calorie restriction without hunger or deprivation * insulin, cortisol, seratonin and eicosanoids * oestrogen and the menopause * testosterone as men and women age * DHEA, melatonin - are these hormonal supplements merely hype? * your thyroid gland and how it affects metabolism * exercise and the anti-ageing Zone lifestyle 'pyramid'

John Rebus stands accused: on trial for a crime that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Although it's not the first time the legendary detective has taken the law into his own hands, it might be the last. What drove a good man to cross the line? Or have times changed, and the rules with them? Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke faces Edinburgh's most explosive case in years, as a corrupt cop goes missing after claiming to harbour secrets that could sink the city's police force. But in this investigation, it seems all roads lead to Rebus - and Clarke's twin loyalties to the public and the police will be tested to their limit. A reckoning is coming - and John Rebus may be hearing the call for last orders...

Nutritional Modulators of Pain in the Aging Population provides an overview on the role of foods, dietary supplements, obesity, and nutrients in the prevention and amelioration of pain in various diseases in the aging population. Headaches, fibromyalgia, joint pain, arthritis pain, back pain, and stomach pain are discussed. In addition, the potential health risks of using foods to reduce symptoms is evaluated. Each chapter reviews pain causing conditions before reviewing the role of food or exercise. Both researchers and physicians will learn about dietary approaches that may benefit or harm people with various types of pain. Chapters include current research on the actions of nutrients in pain treatment, the effects of lifestyle and exercise on pain management, and discussions of dietary supplements that provide pain relief from chronic conditions like arthritis.

The age-friendly community movement is a global phenomenon, currently growing with the support of the WHO and multiple international and national organizations in the field of aging. Drawing on an extensive collection of international case studies, this volume provides an introduction to the movement. The contributors - both researchers and practitioners - touch on a number of current tensions and issues in the movement and offer a wide-ranging set of recommendations for advancing age-friendly community development. The book concludes with a call for a radical transformation of a medical and lifestyle model of aging into a relational model of health and social/individual wellbeing.

This book provides concrete scientific basis that we can conceive the possibility of modifying or even completely canceling aging process, despite the fact that aging is commonly regarded as the result of the overall effects of many uncontrollable degenerative phenomena. The authors illustrate in detail the mechanisms by which cells and the whole organism age. Actions by which it is possible, or will be possible within a limited time, to operate for modifying aging are also debated. The discussion is conducted within the frame and the concepts of evolutionary medicine, which is also indispensable for distinguishing between the manifestations of aging and: (i) diseases that worsen with age, and (ii) acceleration of normal aging rates, caused by unhealthy lifestyle habits and other avoidable factors. The book also discusses the impact of aging on overall mortality and the strange situation that, according to official statistics, aging does not exist as cause of death. This book is a turning point between a gerontology and geriatrics conceived as the study and vain treatment of an incurable condition and one in which these disciplines examine the how and why of a physiological phenomenon that can be modified up to a possible total control. This means transforming the medical prevention and treatment of physiological aging from the greatest failure to the greatest success of medicine.

"Recent Events in the Psychology of Aging" documents the successful integration of aging into the mainstream of psychology. Leading psychologists present overviews of the key issues and research findings on mainstream topics. These include cognitive neuroscience, visual attention, learning, memory and cognition, as well as personality and happiness. The intersection of aging content with mainstream psychology is also prominent in the areas of emotions, personality, and social psychology as seen in the chapters on subjective well-being, emotional development, self-esteem and personality trajectories.
The seven chapters of this book offer information on such topics as: the seven sins of memory, categorizing the common breakdowns of memory in everyday life and the special breakdown of sins that increase with aging; problems with attention and learning; and offers answers to questions such as do emotions get blunted with age; do older people focus more on positive feelings; and the age old question of whether older people are happier than younger people is given in the chapter on the evolving concept of subjective well-being and the multifaceted nature of happiness. Questions about what occurs to one's self-esteem and personality are also masterfully discussed and the answers may be surprising. The concluding seventh chapter provides a cultural lens on the biopsychosocial study of aging.

Collectively, the chapters in this work will provide the reader with novel insight into the inter-relationships of the function of different organelles in the sequences of events that lead to cellular dysfunction and degeneration in the aging human population. The chapters are rich in information for cell and molecular biologists pursuing studies of the different diseases covered. In addition, the clinician will find value in understanding mechanisms underlying age-related disease as such an understanding will lead to novel therapeutic approaches for an array of age-related diseases.

People in developed countries are living longer and, just as the aged population around the world is steadily growing, the number of adults eighty-five and older in the United States is projected to quadruple to twenty-one million people by 2050. The aging of our population has huge implications for baby boomers and their children, and has generated a greater interest in the causes and effects of aging.
"Our Aging Bodies" provides a clear, scientifically based explanation of what happens to all the major organ systems and bodily processes--such as the cardiovascular and digestive systems--as people age. The first section is an overview of secondary aging--changes that occur with age that are related to disease and the environment--and include the effect of such things as diet, humor, and exercise. Readers will also learn about primary aging--intrinsic changes that occur with the aging of specific organs and body systems (including the prostate, the heart, the digestive system, and the brain). Throughout the book, Gary F. Merrill weaves in personal anecdotes and stories that help clarify and reinforce the facts and principles of the underlying scientific processes and explanations. "Our Aging Bodies" is accessible to a general reader interested in the aging phenomenon, or baby boomers wanting to be more informed when seeing their doctor and discussing changes to their bodies as they age.

This volume of "Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology" critically reviews the rapidly advancing area of telomerase research with a focus at the molecular and cellular levels. The clearly established function of telomerase is to maintain chromosome ends during successive rounds of cell division by adding a six base DNA repeat on to the telomeric ends of chromosomes. As presented in the chapters of this volume, the mechanisms that regulate telomerase expression and activity are complex. Moreover, emerging data suggest additional roles for telomerase in the regulation of cell differentiation and survival.

It is expected that this quite comprehensive volume will provide a valuable resource for graduate students and postdocs in the telomerase field and for established investigators in other fields who are beginning to study telomerase in their particular research program. With an increasing number of proteins being brought into the fold of telomerase research (e.g., DNA damage and repair response proteins, heat-shock proteins, and proteins in various signal transduction cascades) many new scientists are beginning to study this enzyme from novel vantage points.

Based on an intensive qualitative study of a diverse group of 51 older widowers, this unique book sets widowhood within the context of life experience and identifies characteristics and patterns of behaviour that contribute to widowers' success, or lack of it, in adjusting satisfactorily to their circumstances. The authors shed light on widowers' specific needs and on the services needed to help widowers develop greater self-reliance. Among the topics discussed are models of resilience, marriage and illness of the spouse, caregiving and communication, death of the wife, grief and adjustment, living alone and remarriage, life values carried forward, adult children and other social support, and cohorts and the future. The authors conclude with a consideration of trends that may influence the next generation's experience of widowhood. This excellent volume offers expert guidance on the needs and care of the nearly invisible population of older widowers.

For many years, it has been known that when rats and mice are given a reduced amount of food, their life span is increased and they remain healthy and vigorous at advanced ages.

What is the reason for this change in the usual pattern of aging? The evidence is overwhelming that the life extension results from a slowing of aging processes. And the factor responsible is the decrease in caloric intake. The obvious question: How does this factor work? A good question - and the reason that research on the anti-aging action of caloric restriction is today one of the most studied research areas in biological gerontology. For it is felt that if the biological mechanisms of the anti-aging action of caloric restriction can be uncovered, we would gain an understanding of the basic nature of aging processes, which would, in turn, yield possible interventions in human aging. This book aims to provide the growing number of researchers in this field (faculty, postdoctoral trainees, and graduate students) with a detailed knowledge of what is known about caloric restriction within the frame of gerontology, as well as insights on future of this field.

Few topics in women's medicine today are as fraught with confusion and controversy as the question of appropriate treatment for menopausal symptoms and the prevention of negative long term health outcomes common to post-menopausal women. Cardiovascular disease (CVD), osteoporosis, and cancer - the most common causes of death, disability and impaired quality of life for women - can potentially be prevented or forestalled by dietary, behavioural and drug interventions. A better understanding of the natural history of the menopause is critical to providing better care. If women and their physicians have a better understanding of predictors of risk, they could make more informed decisions about interventions related to menopausal symptoms, CVD, osteoporosis and gynaecologic and breast cancer. Few other recently introduced medical interventions have as great a potential of affecting morbidity and mortality as does hormone replacement therapy (HRT). HRT has produced effect on health risk: some are reduced, some are raised, and some uncertain, and these data are interpreted differently by various scientific, medical and consumer groups.

This volume discusses the current state of research findings related to healthy brain aging by integrating human clinical studies and translational research in animal models. Several chapters offer a unique overview of successful aging, age-related cognitive decline and its associated structural and functional brain changes, as well as how these changes are influenced by reproductive aging. Insights provided by preclinical studies in mouse models and advanced neuroimaging techniques in humans are also presented.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" is the most comprehensive, engaging, and up-to-date treatment of developments within the field over the past 30 years. The volume represents an indispensable source of the freshest and highest standard scholarship for scholars, policy makers, and aging professionals alike.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging "contains 45 far-reaching chapters, authored by nearly 80 of the most renowned experts, on the most pressing topics related to aging today. With its recurring attention to the social forces that shape human aging, and the social consequences and policy implications of it, the contents will be of interest to everyone who cares about what aging means for individuals, families, and societies.

The chapters of the "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" illustrate the field's extraordinary breadth and depth, which has never before been represented in a single volume. Its contributions address topics that range from foundational matters, such as classic and contemporary theories and methods, to topics of longstanding and emergent interest, such as social diversity and inequalities, social relationships, social institutions, economies and governments, social vulnerabilities, public health, and care arrangements. The volume closes with a set of personal essays by senior scholars who share their experiences and hopes for the field, and an essay by the editors that provides a roadmap for the decade ahead.

The "Handbook of Sociology of Aging" showcases the very best that sociology has to offer the study of human aging.

Biological rhythms time the ebb and flow of virtually every physiological process, and their mutual coordination guarantees the integrity of the organism over space and time. Aging leads to the disintegration of this coordination, as well as to changes in the amplitude and/or frequency of the underlying rhythms. The results of this are accelerated loss of health during aging, and in experimental model systems curtailed lifespan occurs. This book will examine the machinery that constitutes circadian systems and how they impact physiologic processes. It will also discuss how disturbances of circadian rhythms can lead to complex diseases associated with aging. Much of this treatment will focus on metabolism and genome stability. Importantly, the chapters in this book will encompass work in several different models, in addition to human. The book will conclude with a discussion of modeling approaches to biologic cycles and chronotherapy, for future research and translation.

The average age of the world's population is increasing at an unprecedented rate and this increase is changing the world. This "Silver tsunami" emphasizes the need to provide advanced training in epidemiology and increase the cadre of experts in the study of aging. This book is designed to summarize unique methodological issues relevant to the study of aging, biomarkers of aging and the biology/physiology of aging and in-depth discussions of the etiology and epidemiology of common geriatric syndromes and diseases. Contributing authors in the book represent many disciplines, not only epidemiology and clinical geriatrics, but also demography, health services, research, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, psychiatry, neurology, social services, musculoskeletal diseases and cancer. The aim of the book is to provide a broad multidisciplinary background for any student/researcher interested in aging. The material in the book is organized and comprehensive. It represents the most up-to-date information on the scientific issues in aging research written by academics who specialize in research and training in the broad field of aging. The structure and organization of the book reflects our course series in the Epidemiology of Aging starting with the broad issues of demography and methodology, and then addressing specific health conditions and geriatric conditions common to older persons.

The processes of aging and death remain one of the most fascinating, and mysterious, areas of biological research. Huge anomalies between species raise questions the answers to which could have fundamental implications for the field of medical science. As scientists unlock the secrets of the exceptionally long-lived little brown bat (up to 34 years), or the common budgerigar, for example, which despite having a metabolic rate 1.5 times that of a laboratory mouse, can live for up to 20 years, it has become more important than ever to be able to make a comparative analysis of the various species used in research.

Dealing with every one of the mammalian species that are employed in laboratory research, this is the first book on the subject of aging that provides detailed comparative data for age-related changes in its subjects. It does so at the level of the whole animal, its organs, organelles and molecules. The comparative data, supplied in 15 chapters by leading experts, provides information on fields as disparate as telomere function and loss, the importance of the Sirtuins and Tor, the influence of hormones on lifespans, the relationship between body size and lifespan, the effects of restricted calorific intake, age-related changes in cell replication, and DNA damage and repair. Chapters are devoted to cardiac aging, comparative skeletal muscle aging, the aging of the nervous and immune systems, the comparative biology of lyosomal function and how it is affected by age, and many other key areas of research.

This much-needed text will provide scientists working in a wide spectrum of fields with key data to aid them in their studies.

In this paradigm-shifting book from acclaimed Harvard Medical School doctor and one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people on earth, Dr. David Sinclair reveals that everything we think we know about ageing is wrong, and shares the surprising, scientifically-proven methods that can help readers live younger, longer. For decades, the medical community has looked to a variety of reasons for why we age, and the consensus is that no one dies of old age; they die of age-related diseases. That's because ageing is not a disease - it is inevitable. But what if everything you think you know about ageing is wrong? What if ageing is a disease? And that disease is curable. In LIFESPAN, Dr. David Sinclair, one of the world's foremost authorities on genetics and ageing, argues just that. He has dedicated his life's work to chasing more than a longer lifespan - he wants to enable people to live longer, healthier, and disease-free well into our hundreds. In this book, he reveals a bold new theory of ageing, one that pinpoints a root cause of ageing that lies in an ancient genetic survival circuit. This genetic trick - a circuit designed to halt reproduction in order to repair damage to the genome -has enabled earth's early microcosms to survive and evolve into more advanced organisms. But this same survival circuit is the reason we age: as genetic damage accumulates over our lifespans from UV rays, environmental toxins, and unhealthy diets, our genome is overwhelmed, causing gray hair, wrinkles, achy joints, heart issues, dementia, and, ultimately, death. But genes aren't our destiny; we have more control over them than we've been taught to believe. We can't change our DNA, but we can harness the power of the epigenome to realise the true potential of our genes. Drawing on his cutting-edge findings at the forefront of medical research, Dr. Sinclair will provide a scientifically-proven roadmap to reverse the genetic clock by activating our vitality genes, so we can live younger longer. Readers will discover how a few simple lifestyle changes - like intermittent fasting, avoiding too much animal protein, limiting sugar, avoiding x-rays, exercising with the right intensity, and even trying cold therapy - can activate our vitality genes. Dr. Sinclair ends the book with a look to the near future, exploring what the world might look like - and what will need to change - when we are all living well to 120 or more. Dr. Sinclair takes what we have long accepted as the limits of human potential and mortality and turns them into choices. THE EVOLUTION OF AGEING is destined to be the biggest book on genes, biology, and longevity of this decade.

This book covers the origins and subsequent history of research results in which attempts have been made to clarify issues related to cellular ageing, senescence, and age-related pathologies including cancer. Cellular Ageing and Replicative Senescence revisits more than fifty-five years of research based on the discovery that cultured normal cells are mortal and the interpretation that this phenomenon is associated with the origins of ageing. The mortality of normal cells and the immortality of cancer cells were also reported to have in vivo counterparts. Thus began the field of cytogerontology. Cellular Ageing and Replicative Senescence is organized into five sections: history and origins; serial passaging and progressive ageing; cell cycle arrest and senescence; system modulation; and recapitulation and future expectations. These issues are discussed by leading thinkers and researchers in biogerontology and cytogerontology. This collection of articles provides state-of-the-art information, and will encourage students, teachers, health care professionals and others interested in the biology of ageing to explore the fascinating and challenging question of why and how our cells age, and what can and cannot be done about it.

Aging is an almost universal process within biological systems, one which leads to a decline in functional capacity, disease onset, and eventually death. There has been much interest in recent years to elucidate the molecular mec- nisms that underlie the aging process. Many theories have been proposed since the last century that aim to explain the causes of aging. There is no one theory that completely satisfies the phenotype of aging, but genetics and environm- tal factors play an important role in the etiology of age-related pathologies and the aging process. However, there is still much to be learned about the aging process which has been termed one of the last great frontiers in biology. De- graphic changes worldwide are leading to increased average life expectancies within our populations. These changes in population characteristics will impact upon the economies of the supporting society, with increasing healthcare and infrastructural costs arising from the prevalence of age-related pathologies and other physical disabilities associated with advancing years. Many researchers worldwide are working in the attempt to identify key cellular processes through which it might one day be possible to slow down the aging process and thus increase the health span of humans. Numerous research projects-from the cellular through to tissue, organ, and whole organism studies-are currently underway to investigate the mul- factorial aging process.

The goal of Biological Aging: Methods and Protocols is to present some of the most promising and important tools that are currently used in biological aging research. These tools include established protocols such as aging cell culture as well as many more contemporary approaches such as nuclear transfer, microarray and proteomics technologies and the use of ribozymes in aging research. Collectively, these powerful tools combined with the many other techniques that are presented are rapidly advancing the exciting and expanding field of biological aging.

This volume is an outgrowth ofcontemporary research on development over the adult lifespan, which by now has burgeoned and developed both nationally and internationally. However, for us, the impetus to be involved in this area was spawned and nurtured by our initial association with the Society for Research in Adult Development (SRAD) with its origins some 15 years ago by Michael Commonsand his associates inCambridge, Massachusetts. Throughthegood will and support of this society, we also became, and are still, heavily involved with the Journal of Adult Development and the Kluwer-Plenum Monograph Series on Adult Development and Aging, ofwhich this volume is a companion. Many ofthe contributions in the volume are from SRAD members, who con sistently adhere to a focus on positive adult development. Their chapters have been complemented by pieces from other researchers, who have adopted more mainstream approaches to adult development and/oraging. Regardless ofthe par ticular approach and/or focus of the chapter, all the work reported herein sup ports the relatively recent idea that development is not restricted to children and adolescents but continues throughout the adult lifespan in ways that we never envisionedsome 20 years ago. Thus, the volume represents state-of-the-arttheory, research, and practice on adult development, which has the potential to occupy us all for some time to come."

Understanding the relationship between frailty and longevity becomes increasingly important as the world continues to age and life expectancy in most countries continues to increase. The articles contained in this book are the outcome of a colloquium sponsored by Fondation IPSEN in which interdisciplinary perspectives were brought to bear on conceptual, empirical and clinical aspects of this relationship.

This volume is one of the first to concentrate on positive growth and development in a clinical arena, rather than loss and pathology. In contrast to the general theories and cross-sectional studies of existing adult developmental research, much of this volume looks at the whole-life level of development of adults through case studies. The book unites three compatible approaches to the study of adult development. The first considers the development of whole life. The second approach examines behavior during certain periods in adults' lives by combining clinical and developmental stage perspectives. The third approach examines periods of life following the work of Erikson, Levinson, and Vaillant. The editors of this volume believe that these three approaches form, in their synergy, a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to uniquely difficult problems of late adolescence and early adulthood. It is the unification of these three approches that makes this book unique in its field.