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Diseases & Conditions

Diseases & Conditions

American Federation for Aging Research American Foundation for Aging Research

Dr. Miller formerly led business operations for the global Drug Discovery Division at pharmaceutical company Glaxo Smith Kline.

Well one thing that I think is going to be critical is that in the past, pharmaceutical companies had treated diseases of aging as discrete entities, that is to develop something for diabetes, to develop something for osteoporosis…that is to treat each one as a separate silo if you will.

in the future we are going to have to look at more central regulatory pathways that are being identified now for aging.

In responding to population ageing, the Australian Government takes a whole-of-government perspective across superannuation and retirement income support, workforce, housing, social inclusion and life long education, as well as medical, health and aged care services

Anti-aging research is scandalously under-funded.  In the US, a vast proportion of the funding doled out by the National Institute of Aging is given to research on Alzheimer's disease. According to one estimate (from circa 2004), only about 0.02% of the money spent by the National Institutes of Health (of which the NIA is part) is spent on fundamental aging research.

The more we understand about the biochemical processes involved in senescence the more we find that they look like disease processes. The accumulation of lysosomal aggregates and amyloid plaques, extracellular protein-protein cross-linking, nuclear and mitochondrial mutations, cell atrophy, cell senescence, and cell loss without replacement: these processes may all be implicated in both pathology and senescence.   At the level of genetics and biochemistry, there simply does not seem to be any meaningful distinction between "processes predisposing to or constituting disease" and "normal aging".

Aging is not an evolutionary adaptation. Aging, rather, is what happens when various bodily systems evolved to maintain health gradually accumulate defects and begin to malfunction. In the Pleistocene, when life-expectancy is estimated to have been a mere 20 years, too few of our ancestors survived to ripe old age for evolution to favor investment in stronger anti-aging defenses than those we now possess and are forced to rely upon, notwithstanding their evident inadequacy in the modern era where many causes of premature death have been removed.

Friends of the National Institute on Aging (FoNIA) The Friends of the NIA (FONIA) is a broad-based coalition of more than 45 aging, disease, research, and patient groups committed to the advancement of medical research that affects millions of older Americans. FONIA was founded to support the research and training mission of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and to effectively address current and future challenges in aging research.

Leadership Council of Aging Organizations The LCAO is a large coalition of the nation's non-profit organizations serving older Americans. The 53 member association is diverse and dedicated to preserving and strengthening the well-being of America's older population, providing a voice for seniors and their families in the ongoing national debate on aging policy.

National Coalition on Mental Health & Aging The National Coalition on Mental Health & Aging provides opportunities for professional, consumer, and government organizations to work together towards improving the availability and quality of mental health preventive and treatment strategies to older Americans and their families through education, research, and increased public awareness.

There are two aspects to aging which most will recognize, the chronological passage of time which we associate with the benefits of increased experience and wisdom, and the increasing levels of dysfunction we experience as we get older.  One is welcome, the other less so.

It is estimated that 80% of our health care dollars go to the treatment of age-related dysfunction.  The Miliken Institute reported in Oct 2007 that in 2003 it cost 1.3 TRILLION DOLLARS per year in direct and indirect costs ameliorate the suffering of the aged. This is in stark contrast to the 150-200 Million Dollars actualy spent on studying aging which amounts to 1/6th of 1 percent of the yearly budget of the National Health Institute of 28 Billion dollars.

The reason for this disproportionate focus on spending on dysfunction instead of research is that aside from healthy lifestyle choices, little can presently be done to intervene in the aging process and people tend to disbelieve that serious progress will ever be made in addressing the dysfunction that accompanies the aging process.  Due to new breakthroughs this overly-pessimistic perspective is slowly changing.

2007 Task Force Report on Aging Research Funding

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The 2007 Task Force on Aging Research Funding--more than 85 non-partisan disease groups, patient advocates, and foundations--urges Congress and the President to chart a better course for medical research on behalf of America's aging population. This year's report of the Task Force calls for a 6.7% increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health in FY 2008. It also presents data on the burden of 27 diseases and conditions that predominately affect older Americans, highlights some of the exciting work the NIH is doing to decrease these burdens, and serves as a resource for policymakers working to establish the funding levels necessary to advance healthy aging.

A Capitol Hill Symposium & Luncheon September 12, 2006 Hart Senate Office Building, #902 At this international gathering organized by the Alliance for Aging Research, prominent scientists called for governments and health care organizations worldwide to invest in the extension of healthy human life in order to produce a "Longevity Dividend" for nations with aging populations.

Read the statement released by the group of more than 90 scientists.

III. International Perspectives Alex Kalache, Director, Ageing and Health Program, World Health Organization (WHO) - SLIDES James Goodwin, PhD, Head of Research, Help the Aged, London, England - SLIDES

It was Dr. Shock's insistence on answering what he considered the discipline's two critical questions that made an impact on the field of gerontology: "What are the underlying biological factors that produce what we perceive as aging?" and, "What are the mechanisms that produce impaired performance with age?" For aging, he insisted, was not a disease.

Nathan Wetherell Shock, Ph.D. began his gerontology career in 1941 as the chief of the newly formed Unit on Gerontology of the Division of Physiology of the five-year-old National Institute of Health. He took this two-man aging unit and built it into the internationally respected Gerontology Research Center of the National Institute on Aging, NIH. Dr. Shock was the catalyst for the emergence of aging research in the United States and overseas for nearly half a century.

Financing Anti-Aging Research

Project LIFE: A Comprehensive Global Approach to Anti-Aging Funding & Research

Financing Anti-Aging Research with Biotech

Many Asian countries (such as China, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines) will experience a significant aging of their populations during the next several decades. This paper explores how these aging Asian countries are addressing and anticipating the challenges of an aging society. It suggests that Asia's preparedness for an aging population is decidedly mixed. While growth policies have been successful, much work is still needed in many countries to establish an adequate and farsighted policy framework in the areas of pensions, health insurance, and labor market policies.

transcripts of a Congressional forum on March 17, 2003

With the impending age boom in 2010, our nation must have a healthcare system in place that is prepared for the millions of Americans who will be living with chronic diseases, and that is able to foster the development of future treatments to meet their needs.

Download - Adobe Acrobat (PDF), 1.64 MB

KLRI's State of the Science report is produced annually and chronicles KLRI's research as well as other promising research studies in the field of aging. The report gives an update on the critical areas of aging research and the importance of aging research in our society. Click on the links below to view the 2007 and 2008 State of the Science reports. Gray is the New Gold: Longevity Science Slowing the Spiral of Aging Gray is the New Gold: Longevity Science and the Flourishing Aging Society

'Curing aging is not an endpoint the federal drug agency would recognize,' Dr. Westphal says dryly. Instead, both men say, they are working to ameliorate the diseases of aging." For so long as unelected government employees can declare, with no accountability and full force of law, what medicine is permitted and what is not, there will be no direct venture funded efforts to cure aging - or even to take the first steps by aiming to repair specific, identified age-related damage in order to intervene in the aging process. There is no lack of companies, research groups and billions of dollars ready to be directed to that end, as any brief survey of the biotechnology marketplace will show you - but the ignorant few who write policy continue to bury all that potential.

Normal Human Aging The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIA leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. In 1974, Congress granted authority to form NIA to provide leadership in aging research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs relevant to aging and older people. Subsequent amendments to this legislation designated the NIA as the primary Federal agency on Alzheimer's disease research.

Scientific Roadmap to Control Aging

Scientific Roadmap to Control Aging

Life Extension Express™ ebook

A mini review on KLRI's annual fundraiser, Enlightened Age Forum. Lighting the Path to Healthy Aging, Frontdoors, December 2007

A preview of KLRI's annual fundraiser, Enlightened Age Forum. Kronos Forum Will Feature Carmona, Arizona Repubic, September 29, 2007

A Q&A format profile of KLRI. Plan a Long, Healthy Life, Frontdoors, April 2007

Population Aging is Accelerating Age mix varies by region. In the more developed countries of the world, the number of old people will steadily increase, and the number of children will decline (Exhibit 4). By 2015, old people will outnumber children; this has already occurred in several countries, including Japan and Germany. By 2010, the working-age population will begin shrinking; by 2035, total population will begin shrinking.

The projected rise in age-related government spending as a share of GDP in Ireland over the next forty years is among the highest in the euro area. In the absence of reforms, public debt will increase to unsustainable levels. This paper uses the IMF's Global Fiscal Model to compare the macroeconomic effects of different fiscal strategies to accommodate the rise in age-related spending. The simulations suggest that adopting a package of measures, including an increase in the retirement age, broadening the tax base, and raising indirect taxes, would be a more growth-friendly strategy than relying exclusively on raising the social security contribution rate.