Clinical
Gerontology focuses on research which characterizes physiological changes across the
human life span that influence the risk of
age-related diseases/conditions and, the identification of therapeutic targets or interventions to promote healthy aging. Specific aspects of changes across the life span include:
Rates of
aging changes in different physiologic outcomes. The rates of progression of change with age in physiologic and pathologic factors affect many health outcomes directly. For example, individuals showing slow rates of change in a given outcome may be at reduced risk or "protected" from developing an age-related condition. In addition, the predictive value of rates of change at one period of the life span with regard to future rates of change in other outcomes and risk for age-related conditions is of interest.
Variability of
aging changes and its determinants. Additional research on variability within populations, in individuals and its determinants (genetic and other factors) could yield new information on potential protective factors (e.g., beneficial physiologic characteristic which tracks over time), earliest stages of disease (e.g., higher level of arterial calcification for their age) and possibly lead to criteria that could distinguish between individuals more or least likely to respond to a given intervention.
Early- and mid-life influences on later life health and function. Identify significant changes occurring in early (especially during postnatal growth and development) and mid-life, their underlying factors and consequences for clinically significant subsequent changes in later life. Many factors that change between youth and middle age may be early steps, essential precursors, or predisposing factors, in pathologic processes that do not become symptomatic until
old age.
Exceptional survival. This includes the identification of protective factors contributing to exceptionally
healthy aging as expressed by exceptional longevity, exceptional "health span" or exceptionally slow rates of physiologic decline, and to test human interventions with potential to contribute to exceptionally
healthy aging.
Translational genomics. Studies of functional pathways of longevity-associated gene variants and the identification of putative therapeutic targets based on the mechanisms by which such gene variants exert their protective effects. Approaches employing integrative "omics" could help to accelerate the pace with which protective gene variants or genetic factors are translated into strategies for promoting
human health span.
