ABSTRACT
This chapter considers several disparate emerging research and policy issues that are influenced by the rapidly changing nature of aging in America. Increasing interest in aging and the medical problems of older persons has fueled substantial growth in physiologic, psychologic, and sociologic research on aging. Investigators recognize the importance of separating pathologic from age-related changes. The pathways of physiological or psychological change that individuals take with advancing age are influenced by intrinsic aging processes and a variety of extrinsic factors, including genetic and environmental influences, personal habits, diet, psychosocial factors, and diseases. The carbohydrate intolerance of aging may carry substantial risk. Attempts have been made to determine which components of the age-associated alterations in carbohydrate intolerance are related to aging per se and which might be related to factors such as diet, exercise, medication, and body composition. Aging is associated with a progressive decline in bone density in both males and females after maturity.
