Functional Foods, Ageing and Degenerative Disease


Book Description

Degenerative diseases linked to ageing populations are a growing problem for the developed world. Edited by two authorities, this important collection reviews the role of functional foods in helping to prevent a number of such degenerative conditions, from osteoporosis and obesity to immune system disorders and cancer.The book begins with a number of introductory chapters which discuss the regulation of functional foods in the EU, the role of diet generally in preventing degenerative disease. Part one then examines bone and oral health with chapters on the use of diet to control osteoporosis, the use of functional ingredients to improve bone strength, and ways of maintaining dental health. Part two discusses how obesity can be controlled, whilst part three looks at gut health and maintaining the immune function using functional ingredients such as probiotics and prebiotics. The final part of the book reviews research on functional foods and cancer with chapters on synbiotics, anti-angiogenic functional foods, glucosinolates, dietary fibre and phytoestrogens.Functional foods, ageing and degenerative disease is a standard reference for all those concerned with the role of functional foods in the prevention and control of degenerative disease. - Explores diet strategies for preventing diseases including osteoporosis - Summarises key management techniques for obesity, irritable bowel syndrome and oral health - Presents the role of functional foods in promoting good health







Epigenetics of Aging


Book Description

Recent studies have indicated that epigenetic processes may play a major role in both cellular and organismal aging. These epigenetic processes include not only DNA methylation and histone modifications, but also extend to many other epigenetic mediators such as the polycomb group proteins, chromosomal position effects, and noncoding RNA. The topics of this book range from fundamental changes in DNA methylation in aging to the most recent research on intervention into epigenetic modifications to modulate the aging process. The major topics of epigenetics and aging covered in this book are: 1) DNA methylation and histone modifications in aging; 2) Other epigenetic processes and aging; 3) Impact of epigenetics on aging; 4) Epigenetics of age-related diseases; 5) Epigenetic interventions and aging: and 6) Future directions in epigenetic aging research. The most studied of epigenetic processes, DNA methylation, has been associated with cellular aging and aging of organisms for many years. It is now apparent that both global and gene-specific alterations occur not only in DNA methylation during aging, but also in several histone alterations. Many epigenetic alterations can have an impact on aging processes such as stem cell aging, control of telomerase, modifications of telomeres, and epigenetic drift can impact the aging process as evident in the recent studies of aging monozygotic twins. Numerous age-related diseases are affected by epigenetic mechanisms. For example, recent studies have shown that DNA methylation is altered in Alzheimer’s disease and autoimmunity. Other prevalent diseases that have been associated with age-related epigenetic changes include cancer and diabetes. Paternal age and epigenetic changes appear to have an effect on schizophrenia and epigenetic silencing has been associated with several of the progeroid syndromes of premature aging. Moreover, the impact of dietary or drug intervention into epigenetic processes as they affect normal aging or age-related diseases is becoming increasingly feasible.




Brain Aging


Book Description

Recognition that aging is not the accumulation of disease, but rather comprises fundamental biological processes that are amenable to experimental study, is the basis for the recent growth of experimental biogerontology. As increasingly sophisticated studies provide greater understanding of what occurs in the aging brain and how these changes occur




Health Among the Elderly in Germany


Book Description

Whether increasing life expectancy leads to better health remains still controversial. Three topics are explored: (1) vanguard groups which inform about possible levels of health if the general social and environmental conditions were to approach those of the vanguard group; (2) the social and behavioral determinants of health differentiated into proximal and distal factors; (3) vulnerable groups such as migrants and the health differences between migrant groups. Newly available population-based data as well as new study designs and advanced statistical modelling form the basis for the empirical analyses.




Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Ageing: Part II Clinical Science


Book Description

This volume of the subcellular Biochemistry series will attempt to bridge the gap between the subcellular events that are related to aging as they were described in the first volume of this set of two books and the reality of aging as this is seen in clinical practice. All chapters will start from the biochemistry or cell biology, where the data is available and work up towards the understanding that we have of aging in the various areas that are related to the subject. Key focus points for this volume are nutrition, external factors and genetics on aging. There will also be chapters that will focus on various organs or tissues in which aging has been well studied, like the eyes, the muscles, the immune system and the bones. The aim of the book project and the book project that is published in concert with this volume is to bring the subcellular and clinical areas into closer contact.




World Report on Ageing and Health


Book Description

The WHO World report on ageing and health is not for the book shelf it is a living breathing testament to all older people who have fought for their voice to be heard at all levels of government across disciplines and sectors. - Mr Bjarne Hastrup President International Federation on Ageing and CEO DaneAge This report outlines a framework for action to foster Healthy Ageing built around the new concept of functional ability. This will require a transformation of health systems away from disease based curative models and towards the provision of older-person-centred and integrated care. It will require the development sometimes from nothing of comprehensive systems of long term care. It will require a coordinated response from many other sectors and multiple levels of government. And it will need to draw on better ways of measuring and monitoring the health and functioning of older populations. These actions are likely to be a sound investment in society's future. A future that gives older people the freedom to live lives that previous generations might never have imagined. The World report on ageing and health responds to these challenges by recommending equally profound changes in the way health policies for ageing populations are formulated and services are provided. As the foundation for its recommendations the report looks at what the latest evidence has to say about the ageing process noting that many common perceptions and assumptions about older people are based on outdated stereotypes. The report's recommendations are anchored in the evidence comprehensive and forward-looking yet eminently practical. Throughout examples of experiences from different countries are used to illustrate how specific problems can be addressed through innovation solutions. Topics explored range from strategies to deliver comprehensive and person-centred services to older populations to policies that enable older people to live in comfort and safety to ways to correct the problems and injustices inherent in current systems for long-term care.




Neurodegeneration


Book Description

Most textbooks on neurodegenerative disorders have used a classification scheme based upon either clinical syndromes or anatomical distribution of the pathology. In contrast, this book looks to the future and uses a classification based upon molecular mechanisms, rather than clinical or anatomical boundaries. Major advances in molecular genetics and the application of biochemical and immunocytochemical techniques to neurodegenerative disorders have generated this new approach. Throughout most of the current volume, diseases are clustered according to the proteins that accumulate within cells (e.g. tau, α-synuclein and TDP-43) and in the extracellular compartments (e.g. β-amyloid and prion proteins) or according to a shared pathogenetic mechanism, such as trinucleotide repeats, that are a feature of specific genetic disorders. Chapters throughout the book conform to a standard lay-out for ease of access by the reader and are written by a panel of International Experts Since the first edition of this book, major advances have been made in the discovery of common molecular mechanisms between many neurodegenerative diseases most notably in the frontotemporal lobar degenerations (FTLD) and motor neuron disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This book will be essential reading for clinicians, neuropathologists and basic neuroscientists who require the firm up-to-date knowledge of mechanisms, diagnostic pathology and genetics of Neurodegenerative diseases that is required for progress in therapy and management.




Oxidative Stress and Aging


Book Description

Oxidative stress and aging Over the past several years there has been an extraordinarily rapid growth in our knowledge of free radical chemistry and its possible involvement in both normal essential biology and age related disease and dysfunction. Much of this growth in the traditionally separate sciences of chemistry and molecular gerontology occurred independently, with little interaction or communi cation between the scientists working in these two fields. In view of the growing maturity of the two fields and the potential importance of advancing our knowledge in the area of oxidative stress and aging, we perceived a critical need to organize an international conference the "First Inter national Conference on Oxidative Stress and Aging" in Hawaii in 1994 to bring together the world's leading scientists in the fields of reactive oxygen species and molecular gerontology. The objective of this conference was to provide a unique opportunity for scholars working in these two related and rapidly growing fields to participate in the exchange, integration, and synthesis of new concepts and ideas, to engage in constructive criticism and to initiate new collaborative research projects. The conference focused on the molecular and cellular aspects of aging as related to oxidative stress. It was one of the largest and most comprehensive international conferences held in molecular gerontology. At this conference a call was made for submission of papers to be used in the publication of a book covering the major contributions of the meeting.




Functional Neurobiology of Aging


Book Description

Some well-known age-related neurological diseases include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, deafness, and blindness. Even more common are the problems of aging which are not due to disease but to more subtle impairments in neurobiological systems, including impairments in vision, memory loss, muscle weakening, and loss of reproductive functions, changes in body weight, and sleeplessness. As the average age of our society increases, diseases of aging continue to become more common, and conditions associated with aging need more attention by doctors and researchers. In 1991, patients over the age of 65 saw their doctors an average of eight times per year. Research funding is provided by the Neuroscience and Neuropsychology of Aging (NNA) Program, which is run by the National Institute on Aging. This book offers a comprehensive overview of all topics related to functional impairments which are related to the aging brain and nervous system. It is organized according to four general functions: movement, senses, memory, and neuroendocrine regulation. Written by the leading researchers in the field, this comprehensive work addresses both impairments associated with diseases and not associated with diseases, making it easier to understand the mechanisms involved. Functional Neurobiology of Aging is an important reference for professionals and students involved in aging research, as well as physicians who need to recognize and understand age-related impairments. - Organized by function, making it easy to find and understand the material - Addresses impairments both associated with diseases and not associated with diseases - Written by leading researchers in the field - Most comprehensive source of information on the neurobiology of aging