Biology of Aging Observations and Principles

by Arking, Robert

• ISBN13: 9780195167399
• ISBN10: 0195167392
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Robert Arking's Biology of Aging, 3rd edition, is an introductory text to the biology of aging which gives advanced undergraduate and graduate students a thorough review of the entire field. His prior two editions have also served admirably as a reference text for clinicians and scientists.This new edition captures the extraordinary recent advances in our knowledge of the ultimate and proximal mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of aging. As a result, six important conceptual changes are included here: DT Clarified distinctions between the biological mechanisms involved in longevity determination and those involved in senescent processes. DT A new conceptual framework around which we can organize all the new facts about aging. This will assist readers to make sense of the information and use thedata to form their own ideas. DT Increased knowledge of aging cells has lead to new ideas on how a cell transits from a healthy state to a senescent state, while still allowing for high levels of intra- and inter-specific variability. DT Discussion of senescent mechanisms assists the reader tounderstand that aging is a non-programmatic loss of function, likely arising from the loss of regulatory signals, and so is modifiable in the laboratory. DT Because the standard evolutionary story does not fully explain the evolution of social organisms, this edition also includes recent work dealingwith intergenerational resource transfers. DT Lastly, if aging mechanisms are plastic, then the demand to move these anti-aging interventions into the human arena will inevitably grow. A discussion of the biological and ethical arguments on both sides of the question frames the question in anappropriate manner. The mass of data related to aging is summarized into fifteen focused chapters, each dealing with some particular aspect of the problem. The last two chapters integrate all this material into a coherent view of how the relevant biological processes change over the life span. This view is expressedin two non-technical figures (you might say that the whole book exists to fully support Figs 9-4 and 14-9), whose meanings are elucidated as the reader progresses through the book.

Author Biography

Robert Arking is a Professor of Biological Sciences at Wayne State University. His research involves the mechanisms underlying the onset of senescenece in Drosophila.

Table of Contents

Part I What Is Aging?
Perspectives on Aging	3	(23)
Measuring Age-related Changes in Populations	26	(28)
Measuring Age-related Changes in Individuals	54	(41)
Part II Why Do We Age?
Evolutionary and Comparative Aspects of Longevity and Senescence	95	(40)
Part III How Do We Age?
Human Aging	135	(67)
Altering Aging: Interventions That Modify Longevity and Senescence	202	(35)
Genetic Determinants of Longevity in Animal Models	237	(82)
Genetic and Social Aspects of Aging in Humans	319	(28)
Part IV What Is the Mechanistic Basis of Aging and Senescence?
Mechanisms Underlying the Transition from Health to Senescence	347	(16)
Stochastic Theories of Aging	363	(32)
Systemic Theories of Senescence	395	(24)
Senescence as a Breakdown of Intracellular Regulatory Processes	419	(30)
Senescence as a Breakdown of Intercellular Regulatory Processes	449	(34)
Part V An Integrated Theory of Aging
A Theory of Aging over the Life Span	483	(22)
Part VI What Can We Do about Aging?
Aging-related Research and Its Impact on Society	505	(22)
References	527	(64)
Index	591