Medical Biotechnology Master’s Programmes
at the University of Pécs and at the University of Debrecen
Identification number: TÁMOP-4.1.2-08/1/A-2009-0011
BASICS OF
GERONTOLOGY,
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
Miklós Székely and Erika Pétervári
Molecular and Clinical Basics of Gerontology – Lecture 1
Medical Biotechnology Master’s Programmes
at the University of Pécs and at the University of Debrecen
Identification number: TÁMOP-4.1.2-08/1/A-2009-0011
Gerontology and Geriatrics
• (Géron = „gray“, lógos = „study“)
• The study of normal aging
Geriatrics
• Characteristic diseases in the elderly, or age- related changes in diseases that already
began in the young
Gerontology
WHO categories for late adulthood
• age 50-59: age of transition
• age 60-74: elderly
• age 75-89: old
• age 90-99: very old
• over the age of 100: age of Methuselah
Dynamic and dramatic increase in
the population above the age of 65
Population-wide aging
The share of people over the age of 60 in Europe in 2005 and in 2050 (%)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Ireland Cyprus Slovakia Malta Poland Luxemburg Netherland Czeh Republic Lithuania Denmark Finland Hungary Austria Slovenia United Kingdom France Estonia Latvia Belgium Sweden Germany Greece Spain Portugal Italy Europe of 15 New accession countries Europe of 25
2005 2050
Changes of the population pyramid in Hungary
500 400 300 200 100 0 100 200 300 400 500 0 5 – 4 – 9
10 – 14 15 – 19 20 – 24 25 – 29 30 35 – 34 – 39 40 45 50 55 – 44 – 49 – 54 – 59 60 65 – 64 – 69 70 75 – 74 – 79 80 85 – 84 – X
Number of inhabitants in thousands
Ag e g rou p
1890
Male Male excess Female Female excess
1941
2004
Survival curves
for different populations
20 40 60 80
20 40 60 80
United States (1970)
1,100 BC Europe
15,000 yrs ago
Africa 50,000 yrs ago
Age (years)
Perc ent su rviv al
Mean life expectancy of males and
females in Sweden over two centuries
Period Mean life expectancy at age
0 60 80
1755-76 Male Female
33.20 35.70
12.24 13.08
4.27 4.47 1856-60 Male
Female
40.48 44.15
13.12 14.04
3.12 4.91 1936-40 Male
Female
64.30 66.90
16.35 17.19
5.25 5.49 1971-75 Male
Female
72.07 77.65
17.65 21.29
6.08
7.28
Survival curves for male rats fed ad libitum or restricted to 60%
Group Ad libitum
Restricted to 60%
Age (months)
Perc ent Surviv ing
48 44
40 36
32 28
24 20
16 12
8 4
0 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Age-specific death rates of Swedish
females from 1751 to 1950 and for 1988
De ath/ 1000 /y ear
Sweden (females)
Years
100 75
50 25
0 0.5
1 10 100 500
1751 - 1790
1851 - 1860
1901 - 1910
1920 - 1930
1941 - 1950
1988
How old would you feel if you did not know how old you were?
Chronological and biological aging
Etiology of aging
A Genetic mechanisms
• Mutations (mutation rate is 10 7-11 )
• Chromosome abnormalities
• Telomeres
• Demethylation
• Defects of protein synthesis (Normal mistake rate 5/10,000)
• Elongation factor-1 levels are also low, just as levels of some types of mRNA, e.g. mRNA for IL-1.
B Acquired mechanisms
• Caloric intake – high serum glucose
• High metabolic rate
• Free radicals
• Sedentary lifestyle
A Genetic mechanisms
1 Essential lifespan is stable within the same species
2 Hayflick phenomenon 3 X chromosome
4 HLA DR1, DR11 – HLA DRw9
5 Progeria syndromes Hutchinson-Gilford, Werner
Etiology of aging
A Genetic mechanisms 6 Experimental models
Drosophila melanogaster
Transgenic strains contain extra copies of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase
Caenorhabditis elegans
(nematode-worm) SOD, catalase increase survival and thermal tolerance
Yeast
Longevity associated Gene (LAG)-1 Mouse
Certain inbred strains may live up to 8 years!!
Tumor suppressor p53 deficiency leads to premature aging and death
Etiology of aging
Factors influencing aging
Aging well
Life Activity
Social Resources
Material Security
Physical Health and Functional
Status Cognitive
Efficacy
Survival curves for different populations:
influence of environmental/economic/social factors
Survival at earlier ages has
increased with the passage of time and is greater in more developed countries.
Note the
maximum age
achieved has not altered.
Age (years)
Perc ent su rviv al
20 40 60 100
25 50 75 100
UK 1901
UK 1975
British India 1921-1930
80
0
Expected life-span at birth in different European states
64 – 67 67 – 70 70 – 73 73 – 75 75 – 78 78 – 80 80 – 82 82 – 84 84 – 86 86 – 88
IS
NO
RU
UA
MD RO
BY LV
TK BG
MK CS HR
HU SK
LT EE
AL SL
CZ PL DK
PT
IE
FI
UK
BE NL
LU
DE
AT
IT
BA
ES GR
SE
FR CH
Regional pattern of life expectancy in Germany: East-West difference (2003)
life expectancy at birth (years)
males
life expectancy at birth (years)
females
<74 74-75 75-76 76-77
>77
<81 81-81.5 81.5-82 82-82.5
>82.5
Berlin
Frankfurt M.
Köln
München
100 km
Hamburg Hamburg
Berlin
Frankfurt M.
Köln
München
100 km