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Wellcome
Focu
s
 AGEING
CAN WE STOP THE CLOCK?
 
FOREWORD
We are living through a revolution in ageing.People are living longer than they ever have before,life expectancy at birth is still rising by two years everydecade, and the oldest age groups are those fastestgrowing in numbers. In the 1950s, the Queen sentout 200 or so telegrams each year to people on their100th birthday; in 2005, 4623 centenarians receiveda telegram. Such advances are testimony to thepower of modern medicine and public health, withpeople reaching their later years in better health andwith better quality of life. Yet, as this issue of 
Wellcome Focus
shows, ageingis not just about older people. The last few years havebrought many insights into the fundamental mechanismsof ageing, showing that we begin ageing at the veryearly stages of life, and that the choices we make andthe lifestyles we lead throughout our youth and adultyears influence how we age. Our bodies age throughthe accumulation of damage to our cells throughout life,influenced by our genes, the food we eat, the amountwe exercise, and the environment that surrounds us.Not surprisingly, ageing is highly individual.Our knowledge of the biology of ageing is alreadyinforming the development of new treatments forage-related diseases – many of which are, at theircore, driven by the ageing of our cells and tissues –and are bringing new ways to keep people healthyand vigorous for many more years than before. If inthe future the core processes of ageing themselvesbecome treatable, might we be able to tackle age-related diseases en masse? Or perhaps, one day,enable people to live longer than Jeanne Calment’sremarkable 122 years and five months? Such fascinatingquestions may take years to answer, and willundoubtedly engender hot debate in the meantime.
Dr Mark Walport
Director of the Wellcome Trust
Introducing
Wellcome Focus
…
Research seems to progress at ever faster rates,and even specialists struggle to keep up with thedeluge of information constantly being generated.This information ends up in the primary literature,but that is a daunting starting point for anyone whodoes not already have a detailed understandingof an area. On the other hand, material for generalaudiences often focuses on healthcare delivery– but it can take a long time for the impact ofnew discoveries to be felt in medical practice.With
Wellcome Focus
, we hope to fill the gap.We hope to provide an overview of an area ofmedicine and key research issues within it. Ourbelief is that this will be of value to a wide rangeof people, including: professional scientists readingoutside their own area; healthcare workers of alldescriptions; teachers looking for authoritative andtopical resources for their students; other peoplewith a professional interest in science and medicine;and, not least, members of the general public whoare looking for a balanced and accessible insightinto key issues in human health.
Wellcome Focus
is available free (see inside backcover for ordering details).
Introducing the Wellcome Trust…
The Wellcome Trust is an independent biomedicalresearch-funding charity, established under thewill of Sir Henry Wellcome in 1936. It is fundedfrom a private endowment, which is managed withlong-term stability and growth in mind. Its missionis to foster and promote research with the aim ofimproving human and animal health.
On the web
 All the articles in this issue of
Wellcome Focus
canbe found online at
www.wellcome.ac.uk/ageing
.Plus articles on:• the benefits of exercise for older people• ageing in Africa• ageing and old age in film• ageing and the immune system.
www.wellcome.ac.uk
Wellcome Focus
provides an overview of an area of medicineand key research issues within it, through a mix of reviewarticles, personal comment and research reports. It aims toprovide scientists, healthcare workers, teachers, people witha professional interest in science and medicine, and interestedmembers of the general public with a balanced and accessibleinsight into key issues in human health. It is available free(see inside back cover for ordering details).
 
CONTENTS
2AGEINGSociety, biology and medicine4THE FUTURE OF AGEWhy do research on ageing?
SOCIETY
6IMAGES OF OLDER PEOPLESociety’s views of old age8‘AGEING’ POPULATIONSDemographic changes9FOUNT OF ALL WISDOM ORBURDEN ON SOCIETY?Older people in modern society12AGEING IN AN UNEQUAL WORLDSocial status and life expectancy14VIEWS ON AGEINGPatricia, 6915VIEWS ON AGEING Alistair, 33
BIOLOGY
16PROGRAMMED FOR SURVIVALWhy and how do we age?18WEAR AND TEARCells and the biology of ageing22A FAMILY AFFAIRGenes and ageing26THE CALORIE CONNECTIONDietary restriction and ageing
MEDICINE
28TIME, HEALTH AND DISEASE Ageing and the human body30LONG-TERM GAINS The ageing brain32A COMMON APPROACH Tackling neurodegenerative diseases33DEFENDERS OF THE HEARTHeart disease and stroke34WHEN CELLS TURN ROGUE Ageing and cancer36MOVING FORWARDHelping muscles, bones and joints38ACT YOUR AGEPromoting healthy ageing
FUTURE
40A HEALTHY OLD AGEDisability-free life expectancy42THE BIOLOGY OF AGEING The Achilles heel of diseasesof ageing?44THE FUTURE OF AGEINGProgress or plateau?
1
Contents
Wellcome
Focus
2006
of 00

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