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Review
. 2018 Sep 14;123(7):740-744.
doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.312816.

Time and the Metrics of Aging

Luigi Ferrucci  1 , Morgan E Levine  2 , Pei-Lun Kuo  1   3 , Eleanor M Simonsick  1
Affiliations
Review

Time and the Metrics of Aging

Luigi Ferrucci et al. Circ Res. .

Abstract

The study of aging relates to changes in physical and functional dimensions that occur over time in living organisms. Yet, a model that establishes the hierarchical relationship and interlaced time courses of molecular, phenotypic, and functional hierarchical domains of aging in humans has not been established. We propose that studying the mechanisms and consequences of aging through the lens of these hierarchical domains and their connections will provide clarity in semantics and enhance a translational perspective. The study of human aging would be most informative from a life course, longitudinal perspective, given that manifestations of aging are already detectable early in life at the molecular level, yet the phenotypic responses remain masked by compensatory/resiliency mechanisms. Understanding the nature of these mechanisms is paramount for developing interventions that reduce the burden of disease and disability in older persons.

Keywords: aging; frailty; geriatrics; geroscience; health span; humans.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The metrics of aging. Note that the specific measures included in the three boxes are only examples of a much larger inventory of measures that belong to the three categories.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphic representation of the trajectory of aging and the interaction between entropic and compensatory mechanisms in affecting the rate of aging. Note that the trajectory shows little variability early in life, while the variability expands substantially later in life.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trajectories of biological, phenotypic and functional aging and their interaction over the life span. Of note, functional aging occurs only when all resilience mechanisms of the biological and phenotypic aging domains are exhausted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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