[tt] Eureka: Experts say slowing aging is way to fight diseases in 21st century

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Experts say slowing aging is way to fight diseases in 21st century
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/uoia-ess070708.php

Contact: Sherri McGinnis Gonzalez
smcginn at uic.edu
312-996-8277
University of Illinois at Chicago

A group of aging experts from the United States and the United
Kingdom suggest that the best strategy for preventing and fighting a
multitude of diseases is to focus on slowing the biological
processes of aging.

The analysis is published on www.BMJ.com

"The traditional medical approach of attacking individual diseases
-- cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and
Parkinson's disease -- will soon become less effective if we do not
determine how all of these diseases either interact or share common
mechanisms with aging," says S. Jay Olshansky, professor of
epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of
Public Health and senior author of the commentary.

Middle-aged and older people are most often impacted by simultaneous
but independent medical conditions. A cure for any of the major
fatal diseases would have only a marginal impact on life expectancy
and the length of healthy life, Olshansky said.

The authors suggest that a new paradigm of health promotion and
disease prevention could produce unprecedented social, economic and
health dividends for current and future generations if the aging
population is provided with extended years of healthy life.

They note that all living things, including humans, possess
biochemical mechanisms that influence how quickly we age and,
through dietary intervention or genetic alteration, it is possible
to extend lifespan to postpone aging-related processes and diseases.

Further research in laboratory models is expected to provide clues
and deeper understanding of how existing interventions, such as
exercise and good nutrition, may lead to lifelong well-being.

The authors also propose greatly increased funding for basic
research into the "fundamental cellular and physiological changes
that drive aging itself."

"We believe that the potential benefits of slowing aging processes
have been underrecognized by most of the scientific community," said
Olshansky. "We call on the health-research decision-makers to
allocate substantial resources to support and develop practical
interventions that slow aging in people."

An increase in age-related diseases and escalating health care costs
makes this the time for a "systematic attack on aging itself," the
authors write.

Olshansky and colleagues contend that modern medicine is already
heavily invested in efforts to extend life, and they argue that a
fresh emphasis on aging has the potential to improve health and
quality of life far more efficiently than is currently possible.

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Olshansky's co-authors include Dr. Robert Butler of the
International Longevity Center in New York, Dr. Richard Miller of
the University of Michigan, Daniel Perry of the Alliance for Aging
Research in Washington, Bruce Carnes and Dr. Marie Bernard of the
University of Oklahoma, Dr. T. Franklin Williams of the University
of Rochester, Dr. Christine Cassel of the American Board of Internal
Medicine in Philadelphia, Dr. Jacob Brody of UIC, Linda Partridge of
University College London, Thomas Kirkwood of Newcastle University
and Dr. George Martin of the American Federation for Aging Research
and University of Washington.

For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu