What Is It Aging?
What exactly is aging?
In his book "The American Geriatric Society's Complete Guide to Aging & Health," Mark E. Williams, M.D., defines aging as "a progressive, predictable process that involves the evolution and maturation of living organisms." Although the physical aging of our bodies is unavoidable, people age at widely different rates. Genetics ? what you inherit from your parents and other ancestors ? has a major influence on how you age, along with environmental factors and lifestyle. For example, if your parents both lived into their 90s, and if you get plenty of exercise, practice good nutrition and handle stress effectively, statistically you'll probably live longer than the average sedentary, stress-ridden, junk food-addicted couch potato whose mom and dad died young. But there's no guarantee, of course.

These facts about aging and life expectancy have been known for some time. But new discoveries about the elderly are changing our long-held myths . We now know, for example, that disease and old age don't necessarily come together. New research suggests that Alzheimer's disease is not a natural element of the aging process. Additionally, researchers have learned that other cognitive deficits, such as depression and dementia, are pathologic and not a problem that occurs naturally with advanced years. Moreover, evidence indicates that the very elderly are more healthy on average than are prior groups of the same age, and the aging body seems capable of much more than has been widely acknowledged.

There's even more good news about aging. Except for extremely old people, life satisfaction does not seem to decrease with aging, despite some of the problems associated with old age, such as declining health, diminishing finances, loss of spouse and friends, reduced mobility and activity, and loss of self-esteem. These revelations about aging and life expectancy come from two sources: geriatric research and geriatric medicine. Both are disciplines of immense complexity because they encompass so many variable factors. Geriatric researchers, or gerontologists, as they are also called, study aging as a holistic phenomenon that includes genetic factors, environment, lifestyle, and changing demographic patterns. Researchers also get valuable insights into human aging by studying aging in the animal kingdom, although extrapolations of these findings from animals to humans are frequently not valid.

Geriatric medicine, the other principal source of information about aging, is a medical specialty that focuses on the health care of older persons. Geriatricians must be certified in internal medicine or family practice and have additional training or equivalent clinical experience.Aging is a new field driven by demographics as much as by scientific discovery. Today's elderly are pioneers of a new kind of aging. The next century will be dominated by the concerns of the elderly.