Many books on ageing attempt to cover the whole field of gerontology. However, since gerontology is now such a diversified and rapidly expanding subject, the results of such attempts tend to be either incomprehensible compendia or encyc10pedias of disheartening size. The present book aims to be both more modest and more ambitious. It focuses on a single object (Drosophila), but attempts to off er a synthesis of all the gerontological work that has been done on it. It also aims to show the extent to which this work has led to an understanding of the biological phenomena of ageing, longevity, senescence and death in higher organisms, inc1uding man. Finally it attempts, on the basis of current knowledge, to mark out the paths that the next generation of researchers will most probably follow. Drosophila has been used as a model organism to advance our basic knowledge of the fundamentals of genetics and gerontology. It may be noted that the pioneering work on the genetics of ageing, which used Drosophila, began very early in this century, within the first decade of the rediscovery of Mendel's laws.

As the older population in the United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, it is important to understand the characteristics, the potential, and the needs of this population. In this new and fully revised edition of Aging and Diversity, Chandra Mehrotra and Lisa Wagner address key topics in diversity and aging, discussing how the aging experience is affected by not only race and ethnicity but also gender, religious affiliation, social class, rural-urban community location, and sexual orientation and gender identity. Taking this broad view of human diversity allows the authors to convey some of the rich complexities facing our aging population - complexities that provide both challenges to meet the needs of a diverse population of elders and opportunities to learn how to live in a pluralistic society. Mehrotra and Wagner present up-to-date knowledge and scholarship about aging and diversity in a way that engages readers in active learning, placing ongoing emphasis on developing readers' knowledge and skills, fostering higher order thinking, and encouraging exploration of personal values and attitudes.

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.

The honest, compassionate and vital guide to getting older, from dementia to finances, medication to care homes 'The most important book about the second half of your life you'll ever read. I wish everyone in the UK could be under Dr Lucy's care' SANDI TOKSVIG 'This warm and compassionate book gets to the heart of older age' THE BRITISH GERIATRICS SOCIETY ________ Now more than ever, we need to talk about getting older. Many of us are living to a very great age. But how do we give those we love, and eventually ourselves, long lives that are as happy and healthy as possible? Dr Lucy's book gives us answers to the questions we can voice - and those that we can't. This essential guide will guide you through those important conversations around growing older, answering every question you might have, including: * How do we start the conversation? * How do we ask whether it's worth taking seven different medicines? * Is it normal to find you're falling out of love with someone, as they disappear into dementia? * Should Dad be driving, and if not, who can stop him? * What are the secrets of the best care homes? * When does fierce independence become bad behaviour? * How do you navigate near-impossible discussions around resuscitation and intensity of treatments? * And who decides what happens when we become ill? Serious, funny, kind and knowledgeable, this readable book helps guide us through essential conversations about getting older that go straight to the heart of what matters most.

Can ageing really be a positive experience? Yes. You can make a difference to your own ageing process. Research shows that how we think about ageing can have a significant impact on our health and wellbeing in later life. The Ten Steps of Positive Ageing challenges and debunks the inaccurate and negative attitudes that may be contaminating your outlook on getting older, and provides a clear, practical road map for exerting more choice and control over the ageing process. Concentrating on the psychological and emotional aspects of getting older, and deploying a range of personal development techniques, The Ten Steps of Positive Ageing provides you with the keys to a happier and more fulfilled later life. This is the book for those of us who want to do ageing differently.

As the older population in the United States is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, it is important to understand the characteristics, the potential, and the needs of this population. In this new and fully revised edition of Aging and Diversity, Chandra Mehrotra and Lisa Wagner address key topics in diversity and aging, discussing how the aging experience is affected by not only race and ethnicity but also gender, religious affiliation, social class, rural-urban community location, and sexual orientation and gender identity. Taking this broad view of human diversity allows the authors to convey some of the rich complexities facing our aging population - complexities that provide both challenges to meet the needs of a diverse population of elders and opportunities to learn how to live in a pluralistic society. Mehrotra and Wagner present up-to-date knowledge and scholarship about aging and diversity in a way that engages readers in active learning, placing ongoing emphasis on developing readers' knowledge and skills, fostering higher order thinking, and encouraging exploration of personal values and attitudes.

With the accelerating discovery of human genes, public health professionals are increasingly confronted with a large body of scientific information that will guide public health action. Because the broad mission of public health is to fulfill society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy, the integration of new genetic information in public health research, policy and program development is unavoidable. Public health leadership is urgently needed to use genetic information to improve health and prevent disease, and to address ethical, legal and social issues resulting from inappropriate use of such information. In the not too-distant future, disease prevention and health promotion programs will routinely consider whether or not to use genetic information to help target behavioral, medical or environmental intervention activities in order to maximize benefit and minimize costs and harm to individuals. In anticipation of the expected growth at the interface of genetics and public health, this book delineates a framework for the integration of advances in human genetics into public health practice. It provides a comprehensive review of public health genetics, including chapters on important general issues such as newborn and other genetic screening, the delivery of genetic services, and the ethical, legal and social implications of the use of genetics within public health. It also reviews relevant clinical topics, the historical background, cross-cultural aspects, and communication issues. Contributors come from a wide range of fields including epidemiology, biostatistics, health policy and management, health services research, behavioral and social sciences, ethics, law, health economics, and laboratory sciences.

Keeping active, moving well, and stretching regularly are all important in living a long, healthy, and happy life. In Stay Young with Yoga, yoga teacher Nicola Jane Hobbs shows you how to stay flexible, energised and pain-free in your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. Whether you want to move better, get stronger, ease aches and pains, or simply feel fitter and healthier, Nicola guides you through over 70 simple poses and 20 easy-to-practise sequences, with variations and modifications so you can choose poses and sequences that suit you. With routines designed to fit in with your lifestyle, including morning sequences, desk stretches, de-stress routines, sequences to practice after gardening, housework, and in front of the TV, as well as routines for pain-free movement, workouts for strength and fitness, and routines to support your other hobbies like golf, tennis, and dancing, Stay Young with Yoga will give you the tools to get stronger, fitter and healthier whatever your age.

This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of key areas of subcellular aging research in human cells. The reader is introduced to the historical development and progress in biomedical aging research and learns, for example, about the role of microRNAs, circRNAs, mitochondria and extracellular vesicles in cellular senescence. The reader will also learn more about how gap junctions, the nuclear pore complex and the proteasome are affecting the ageing processes. In addition, novel therapeutic opportunities through modulation of cellular senescence are discussed. The book follows on from Parts I and II of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Ageing (Volumes 90 and 91 of the Subcellular Biochemistry book series) by covering interesting and significant biomedical ageing topics not included in the earlier volumes. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, this book is a valuable resource for experienced researchers and early career scientist alike, who are interested in learning more about the fascinating and challenging question of why and how our cells age.

When Near Becomes Far explores the representations and depictions of old age in the rabbinic Jewish literature of late antiquity (150-600 CE). Through close literary readings and cultural analysis, the book reveals the gaps and tensions between idealized images of old age on the one hand, and the psychologically, physiologically, and socially complicated realities of aging on the other hand. The authors argue that while rabbinic literature presents a number of prescriptions related to qualities and activities that make for good old age, the respect and reverence that the elderly should be awarded, and harmonious intergenerational relationship, it also includes multiple anecdotes and narratives that portray aging in much more nuanced and poignant ways. These anecdotes and narratives relate, alongside fantasies about blissful or unnoticeable aging, a host of fears associated with old age: from the loss of physical capability and beauty to the loss of memory and mental acuity, and from marginalization in the community to being experienced as a burden by one's children. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different aspect of aging in the rabbinic world: bodily appearance and sexuality, family relations, intellectual and cognitive prowess, honor and shame, and social roles and identity. As the book shows, in their powerful and sensitive treatments of aging, rabbinic texts offer some of the richest and most audacious observations on aging in ancient world literature, many of which still resonate today.

Is Menstruation Obsolete? argues that regular monthly bleeding is not the "natural" state of women, and that it actually places them at risk of several medical conditions of varying severity. The authors maintain that while menstruation may be culturally significant, it is not medically meaningful. Moreover, they propose that suppressing menstruation has remarkable health advantages. Because of cultural changes, shorter durations of breast feeding, and birth control, the reproductive patterns of modern women no longer resemble that of their Stone age ancestors. Women have moved from the age of incessant reproduction to the age of incessant menstruation. Consequently, they often suffer from clinical disorders related to menstruation: anemia, endometriosis, and PMS, just to name a few. The authors encourage readers to recognize what has gone previously unnoticed that this monthly discomfort is simply not obligatory. They present compelling evidence that the suppression of menstruation is a viable option for women today, and that it can be easily attained through the use of birth control pills. In fact, they reveal that contraceptive manufacturers, knowing that many women equate menstruation with femininity and that without monthly bleeding would fear that they were pregnant, engineered pill dosage regimens to ensure the continuation of their cycles. Indeed, throughout history societies have assigned menstruation powerful meaning, and Is Menstruation Obsolete? presents a fascinating history of how menstruation inspired doctors to try therapeutic bleeding for a variety of ailments, and how this therapy remained dominant in Western medicine until the early 20th century. Is Menstruation Obsolete? offers women a fresh view of menstruation, providing them with the information they need to make progressive choices about their health. This is a message whose time has come.

This text offers a readable and friendly presentation of the important methods, findings, and theories of human aging, while actively involving the reader in meaningful exercises and critical thinking. Students are repeatedly challenged to apply information in the text to the older adults in their own lives. Specifically, suggestions for enhancing the lives of their older relatives are offered and encouraged. These include guidelines for discussions they might have regarding social, emotional, and environmental changes as well encouraging intellectual and social interaction. In this Edition: Emphasis on the science of the study of aging and why questions in aging are difficult to answer, how social scientists attempt to handle such difficulties, and the successes and failures social scientists have had thus far in answering those questions. The text also demonstrates how current research findings are now being applied in the real world and/or how they might be applied in the future. Cross-cultural comparisons and ethnic group comparisons are included wherever possible. Each chapter begins with "Senior View," which introduces students to a real person and gives them a chance to hear what older adults think and say about important issues related to the chapter and a chance to compare those opinions to the research findings. Each chapter ends with "Making Choices," emphasizing the important behavioral, emotional, and social choices that students can make now to prolong a healthy, happy life. "Chapter Projects" offer the opportunity for active learning, as students investigate for themselves an issue related to the chapter. Instructors can expand these projects for students who want to learn more, or for independent study. "Focus on Aging" boxes compliment the material in the text, providing additional insight and examples, and encouraging critical thinking. Every chapter includes discussion questions, study questions, chapter exercises, and related online resources.

The graying of the U.S. population draws increasing focus to historically unattended segments of society, including sexual and gender minorities. In this first comprehensive volume to address the challenges of aging in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex populations, this text presents what is currently known about aging GLBT individuals and what services are needed to support them.

The editors first provide an introductory overview comparing caregiving in GLBT and normative aging communities. In chapters devoted to the issues of each alternative sexuality and gender identity community, top experts in the field discuss biomedical, psychological, social/sexual, spiritual, socioeconomic, and service topics related to that community's aging needs.

GLBT populations face unique challenges as they age. Despite the often severe difficulties they encounter, many live out their final years with the dignity and grace that all of us deserve. With a combination of the latest biological and social science research, moving case studies and first-person accounts, practical advice for health professionals, and research literature citations, this book represents a major step forward in addressing concerns of aging GLBT populations.

Integrating research, practice, and policy, this text is for students and professionals in gerontology, medicine, social work, psychology, nursing, public health, and related fields who wish to learn more about the life experiences and concerns of sexual- and gender-minority-identified older patients.

Biology of Aging, Second Edition presents the biological principles that have led to a new understanding of the causes of aging and describes how these basic principles help one to understand the human experience of biological aging, longevity, and age-related disease. Intended for undergraduate biology students, it describes how the rate of biological aging is measured; explores the mechanisms underlying cellular aging; discusses the genetic pathways that affect longevity in various organisms; outlines the normal age-related changes and the functional decline that occurs in physiological systems over the lifespan; and considers the implications of modulating the rate of aging and longevity. The book also includes end-of-chapter discussion questions to help students assess their knowledge of the material. Roger McDonald received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Nutrition at the University of California, Davis. Dr. McDonald's research focused on mechanisms of cellular aging and the interaction between nutrition and aging. His research addressed two key topics in the field: the relationship between dietary restriction and lifespan, and the effect of aging on circadian rhythms and hypothalamic regulation. You can contact Dr. McDonald at [email protected]. Related Titles Ahmad, S. I., ed. Aging: Exploring a Complex Phenomenon (ISBN 978-1-1381-9697-1) Moody, H. R. & J. Sasser. Gerontology: The Basics (ISBN 978-1-1387-7582-4) Timiras, P. S. Physiological Basis of Aging and Geriatrics (ISBN 978-0-8493-7305-3)

'Dr Anna Dixon has written a must-read for anyone interested in the future of ageing. Learn from one of the best informed about an issue, and opportunity, that is facing us all.' Andy Briggs, Head of FTSE 100 life insurer Phoenix Group 'A very important book' Sir Muir Gray The Age of Ageing Better? takes a radically different view of what our ageing society means. Dr Anna Dixon turns the misleading and depressing narrative of burden and massive extra cost of people living longer on its head and shows how our society could thrive if we started thinking differently. This book shines a spotlight on how as a society we're currently failing to respond to the shifting age profile - and what needs to change. Examining key areas of society including health, financial security, where and how people live, and social connections, Anna Dixon presents a refreshingly optimistic vision for the future that could change the way we value later life in every sense.

The scientific study of aging is a relatively nascent field of inquiry. Although philosophic and literary reflections on what it means to grow older appear in the earliest historical records, the systematic study of aging began in earnest about a century ago. Scholarly interest in the topic has accelerated in recent decades, due in part to rapid population aging in developed nations. As a result, the study of aging has been incorporated into many disciplines, emphasizing concepts, theories, and methods to elucidate the antecedents and consequences of growing older. Although each discipline has key concepts and empirical generalizations about aging, there is little agreement across disciplines about the intellectual core of gerontology. Each discipline brings its own intellectual heritage and perspective to the study of aging, but the question posed by author Ken Ferraro is whether there is an emergent perspective or way of thinking about aging that transcends the disciplines. Biologists, psychologists, and sociologists may claim an interest in gerontology, but do they have a common image of aging or a set of principles to guide their research? Do they share a paradigm-a fundamental image of aging-that incorporates concepts and empirical generalizations from multiple disciplines? And when disciplinary approaches to gerontology clash, which approach or conceptualization of aging is likely to emerge as part of the paradigm? Although biologists, psychologists, and social scientists share an interest in the study of aging, they are distinctive in how they conduct their research. The Gerontological Imagination provides an integrative paradigm of aging that makes it the first book to identify intellectual common ground among scholars studying aging. Ferraro identifies an underlying set of principles that constitute a paradigm for the study of aging: causality, life course analysis, multifaceted change, heterogeneity, accumulation processes, and ageism. The proposed paradigm provides an efficient way to identify and interpret essential ideas, findings, models, and theories across multiple disciplines that study aging.

WHEN LIFE ON THE BRINK IS ALL YOU KNOW…

Substance-fuelled partying, endless women and a slew of smash records are music hotshot Adam Fairhead’s lifeblood. But when an avoidable accident occurs under his drug-addled watch, he is forced to re-evaluate the life he has created. Increasingly disillusioned with what once seemed so pulsatingly cool, Adam begins to question everything.

This book examines driver, vehicle, roadway and environmental characteristics associated with increased crash involvement by older drivers. Project activities were designed to prioritise the situations causing problems for older drivers based on the magnitude of the crash problem, older driver's degree of over-representation, the likelihood of serious injury, or other criteria of interest. The resulting list of the most problematic situations frame further discussions of how age-related functional decline can mediate increased crash risk for older drivers, and hopefully, point to potential countermeasures for lowering this risk.

The world's foremost expert shares advice on later-in-life ADHD, tackling everything from finances, parenting, planning for retirement, social life and work, in this practical and helpful guide for those with and without a diagnosis. Do you... · Forget to pay bills? · Live in a disorganised environment? · Struggle with mental health? · Procrastinate on projects, even ones that initially excite you? · Have high levels of conflict with those close to you? · Have a child diagnosed with ADHD and/or a family history of learning disorders? If some of these patterns sound familiar, you might understandably fear the onset of dementia, but you may have undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD in adults is one of the most common disorders. Living with ADHD in our later years is hugely influenced by co-occurring issues, such as anxiety, depression or low self-esteem. In addition, the presence of learning disorders, heightened levels of stress, the presence or lack of support from others, and the number of people we are responsible for, can all complicate and intensify the effects of ADHD. The good news is that you've come to the right place to learn more about how to lead a calmer, happier, more productive life. Dedicated to the health and wellbeing of today's older adults with ADHD, Still Distracted After All These Years offers strategies to build a support system, gain better control over your daily life and create a more ADHD-friendly retirement.

Diana Moran, aka The Green Goddess, is here to help spread the word about treatments and preventative measures we can all take to tackle osteoporosis. As a sufferer of osteopenia herself (an early form of osteoporosis) Diana Moran is a strong advocate for exercise, early diagnosis, weight bearing exercise, vitamin D and other measures that can be taken to tackle osteoporosis. Written in association with the Royal Osteoporosis Society, this practical book is a must-have for anybody affected by osteoporosis. Packed with advice, friendly tips and ideas, and an overview of current research, and what we can all be doing to help ourselves live well. Also contains specially designed exercises to help encourage a more active lifestyle and strengthen areas of weakness, alongside the important theory, and medical side of osteoporosis. This is an easy to digest, friendly guide for the general reader.

Think diet and exercise are the keys to a long, healthy life?
Think again.

What can you do to increase the likelihood of living a happy, healthy, fulfilling life into your sixties, seventies, eighties, and beyond?

For more than five decades Harvard Medical School has studied the basic elements of adult human development, analyzing the health and happiness of hundreds of individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds. In Aging Well, George E. Vaillant, M.D., the director of the study, draws on the data gathered and reveals for the first time why some people turn out to be more resilient than others. His surprising conclusion is that individual lifestyle choices play a greater role than genetics, wealth, race, or other factors in determining how happy people are in later life.

Among the topics Dr. Vaillant explores:

• · The importance of marriage and the impact of divorce
• · The role of play and creative activity
• · The effects of tobacco, alcohol, and other mood elevators
• · The benefits of forming new friendships and new social networks
• · The importance of intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning

With its step-by-step advice and its revelation of scientific secrets, this inspiring book can help you — whether you are thirty-five or sixty-five — ensure that your golden years are truly golden.

Inherited disorders of the kidney are becoming important, not only in pediatric nephrological practice, but also in adult nephrology, representing a high proportion of patients with end-stage renal failure. In almost 50% of all children and in 15% of adults accepted for renal replacement therapy, the causative disorders have a hereditary basis. Many of these disorders are apparent at birth but may not cause renal failure until adolescence. Others may not present until adult life. The contribution of these disorders to adult nephrological practice has so far been understated in most of the existing textbooks. This book presents a practical approach to the investigation and management of patients with inherited renal disorders. The book is aimed at both established pediatric and adult nephrologists, as well as nephrologists in training, and will also be of interest to pediatricians, geneticists, and research workers in this field.

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.

A deliciously funny and sage guide to midlife - an unscientific, flaws-and-all account of one woman's adventures and misadventures through the dark comedy of the wilderness years. Through her own experiences as a fifty-something woman, and those of her three sisters, her indomitable mum and rebellious auntie, Charlotte tackles the big questions every woman seeks answers to at this time of our lives - chiefly: How the hell am I going to get over being young in a world obsessed with youth? Written with warmth, wisdom and irreverence this guide to midlife is perfect for readers of Nora Ephron, Caitlin Moran and India Knight.