Aging-associated diseases

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An aging-associated disease is a disease that is seen with increasing frequency with
increasing senescence. Age-associated diseases are to e distinguished from the ageing
process itself ecause all adult animals age, ut not all adult animals e!perience all age-
associated diseases. Aging-associated diseases do not refer to age-specific diseases, such
as the childhood diseases chicken po! and measles. "Aging-associated disease" is used
here to mean "diseases of the elderly". #or should aging-associated diseases e confused
with accelerated aging diseases, all of which are genetic disorders.
$!amples of aging-associated diseases are cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis,
cataract, osteoporosis, type % diaetes, hypertension and Al&heimer's disease. (he
incidence of all of these diseases increases rapidly with aging )increases e!ponentially
with age, in the case of cancer*.
Contents
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- .atterns of differences
% (heories
/ 0ee also
1 2eferences
3 $!ternal links
[edit] Patterns of differences
4y age / aout /56 of rats have had cancer, whereas y age 73 aout /56 of humans
have had cancer. 8umans, dogs and raits get Al&heimer's disease, ut rodents do not.
$lderly rodents typically die of cancer or kidney disease, ut not of cardiovascular
disease. 9n humans, the relative incidence of cancer increases e!ponentially with age for
most cancers, ut levels-off or may even decline y age :5-;3 )although colon<rectal
cancer continues to increase*
+-,
.
=ictims of some of the so-called segmental progerias are vulnerale to different sets of
diseases. =ictims of Werner's syndrome suffer from osteoporosis, cataracts and
cardiovascular disease, ut not neurodegeneration or Al&heimer's disease. =ictim's of
>own syndrome suffer type % diaetes and Al&heimer's disease, ut not high lood
pressure, osteoporosis or cataracts. =ictims of 4loom syndrome most often die of cancer.
[edit] Theories
Aging )senescence* increases vulneraility to age-associated diseases, whereas genetics
determines vulneraility or resistance etween species and individuals within species.
0ome age-related changes )like graying hair* are said to e unrelated to an increase in
mortality. 4ut some iogerontologists elieve that the same underlying changes that
cause graying hair also increase mortality in other organ systems and that understanding
the incidence of age-associated disease will advance knowledge of the iology of
senescence ?ust as knowledge of childhood diseases advanced knowledge of human
development
+%,
.