All Topics  
Aging-associated diseases

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Aging-associated diseases
 
 
  Topics Aging-associated diseases Topic Home

An aging-associated disease is a disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
 that is seen with increasing frequency with increasing senescence
Senescence

Senescence encompasses all of the biological processes of a living organism's approaching an advanced age . The word senescence is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning "old man" or "old age" or "advanced in age"....
. Age-associated diseases are to be distinguished from the ageing
Ageing

Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Aging in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change....
 process itself because all adult animals age, but not all adult animals experience all age-associated diseases. Aging-associated diseases do not refer to age-specific diseases, such as the childhood diseases
List of childhood diseases

The term childhood disease is sometimes subjective, and does not refer to an accepted, categorical list. Nearly all the diseases in this list can also be contracted by adults, and, of course, all children can contract diseases not categorized as "childhood diseases"....
 chicken pox and measles
Measles

Measles is a infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses....
. "Aging-associated disease" is used here to mean "diseases of the elderly".






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Aging-associated diseases'
Start a new discussion about 'Aging-associated diseases'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


An aging-associated disease is a disease
Disease

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and Medical signs....
 that is seen with increasing frequency with increasing senescence
Senescence

Senescence encompasses all of the biological processes of a living organism's approaching an advanced age . The word senescence is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning "old man" or "old age" or "advanced in age"....
. Age-associated diseases are to be distinguished from the ageing
Ageing

Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Aging in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change....
 process itself because all adult animals age, but not all adult animals experience all age-associated diseases. Aging-associated diseases do not refer to age-specific diseases, such as the childhood diseases
List of childhood diseases

The term childhood disease is sometimes subjective, and does not refer to an accepted, categorical list. Nearly all the diseases in this list can also be contracted by adults, and, of course, all children can contract diseases not categorized as "childhood diseases"....
 chicken pox and measles
Measles

Measles is a infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses....
. "Aging-associated disease" is used here to mean "diseases of the elderly". Nor should aging-associated diseases be confused with accelerated aging diseases
Accelerated aging disease

An DNA repair-deficiency disorder is a medical condition due to reduced functionality of DNA repair.DNA repair defects are seen in nearly all of the diseases described as accelerated aging disease, in which various Biological tissues, Organ s or systems of the human body Senescence prematurely....
, all of which are genetic disorder
Genetic disorder

A genetic disorder is an illness caused by abnormalities in genes or chromosomes. While some diseases, such as cancer, are due in part to a genetic disorders, they can also be caused by Environment factors....
s.

Examples of aging-associated diseases are cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular diseases refers to the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the Circulatory system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis ....
, cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
, arthritis
Arthritis

Arthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in people older than fifty-five years....
, cataract
Cataract

A cataract is a clouding that develops in the lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete Opacity and obstructing the passage of light....
, osteoporosis
Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of bone fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is disrupted, and the amount and variety of collagen proteins in bone is altered....
, type 2 diabetes
Diabetes mellitus type 2

Diabetes mellitus type 2 or type 2 diabetes is a metabolism metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency....
, hypertension
Hypertension

Hypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, HTN or HPN, is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated....
 and Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease , also called Alzheimer disease, Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common form of dementia....
. The incidence of all of these diseases increases rapidly with aging
Ageing

Ageing or aging is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Aging in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change....
 (increases exponentially
Exponential growth

Exponential growth occurs when the growth rate of a mathematical function is proportionality to the function's current value. In the case of a discrete domain of definition with equal intervals it is also called geometric growth or geometric decay ....
 with age, in the case of cancer).

Patterns of differences

By age 3 about 30% of rat
Rat

Rats are various medium sized, long-tailed rodents of the Family Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus....
s have had cancer, whereas by age 85 about 30% of humans have had cancer. Humans, dog
Dog

The dog is a domesticated subspecies of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties....
s and rabbit
Rabbit

Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genus in the family taxonomy as rabbits, including the European rabbit , Cottontail rabbit , and the Amami rabbit ....
s get Alzheimer's disease, but rodent
Rodent

Rodentia is an Order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing Incisors#The_Rodent_incisor in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s do not. Elderly rodents typically die of cancer or kidney disease
Nephrology

Nephrology is a branch of internal medicine and pediatrics dealing with the study of the function and diseases of the kidney....
, but not of cardiovascular disease. In humans, the relative incidence of cancer increases exponentially with age for most cancers, but levels-off or may even decline by age 60–75 (although colon
Colon (anatomy)

The colon is the last portion of the digestive system in most vertebrates; it extracts water and salt from feces before they are defecation from the body....
/rectal
Rectum

The rectum is the final straight portion of the large intestine in some mammals, and the Gastrointestinal tract in others, terminating in the anus....
 cancer continues to increase).

Victims of some of the so-called segmental progerias
Accelerated aging disease

An DNA repair-deficiency disorder is a medical condition due to reduced functionality of DNA repair.DNA repair defects are seen in nearly all of the diseases described as accelerated aging disease, in which various Biological tissues, Organ s or systems of the human body Senescence prematurely....
 are vulnerable to different sets of diseases. Victims of Werner's syndrome suffer from osteoporosis, cataracts and cardiovascular disease, but not neurodegeneration
Neurodegeneration

BackgroundNeurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons. Many neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson?s, Alzheimer?s, and Huntington?s occur as a result of neurodegenerative processes....
 or Alzheimer's disease. Victim's of Down syndrome
Down syndrome

Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21 is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra chromosome 21 ....
 suffer type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, but not high blood pressure
Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as it moves away from the heart through artery and capillary, and toward the heart through veins....
, osteoporosis or cataracts. Victims of Bloom syndrome
Bloom syndrome

Bloom syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive chromosomal disorder characterized by a high frequency of breaks and rearrangements in an affected person's chromosomes....
 most often die of cancer.

Theories

Aging (senescence) increases vulnerability to age-associated diseases, whereas genetics
Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
 determines vulnerability or resistance between species and individuals within species. Some age-related changes (like graying hair) are said to be unrelated to an increase in mortality
Mortality rate

Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in some population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per year in that entire population....
. But some biogerontologists believe that the same underlying changes that cause graying hair
Hair

Hair is a protein filament that epidermal growth from hair follicle deep within the dermis. The fine, soft hair found on many nonhuman mammals is typically called fur; wool is the characteristically curly hair found on sheep and goats....
 also increase mortality in other organ systems and that understanding the incidence of age-associated disease will advance knowledge of the biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
 of senescence just as knowledge of childhood diseases advanced knowledge of human development
Human development (biology)

Human development is the process of growing to maturity. In biological terms, this entails growth from a one-celled zygote to an adult human being....
.

See also

  • Accelerated aging disease
    Accelerated aging disease

    An DNA repair-deficiency disorder is a medical condition due to reduced functionality of DNA repair.DNA repair defects are seen in nearly all of the diseases described as accelerated aging disease, in which various Biological tissues, Organ s or systems of the human body Senescence prematurely....
  • Gerontology
    Gerontology

    Gerontology is the study of the social, Psychology and Biology aspects of Ageing. It is distinguished from geriatrics, which is the branch of medicine that studies the disease of the elderly....
  • Senescence
    Senescence

    Senescence encompasses all of the biological processes of a living organism's approaching an advanced age . The word senescence is derived from the Latin word senex, meaning "old man" or "old age" or "advanced in age"....


External links