Interventions for age-related diseases: shifting the paradigm

Publication date: Available online 29 September 2016 Source:Mechanisms of Ageing and Development Author(s): Inês Figueira, Adelaide Fernandes, Aleksandra Mladenovic, Andres Lopez-Contreras, Catarina M. Henriques, Colin Selman, Elisabete Ferreiro, Efstathios S. Gonos, José Luis Trejo, Juhi Misra, Lene Juel Rasmussen, Sara Xapelli, Timothy Ellam, Ilaria Bellantuono Over 60% of people aged over 65 are affected by multiple morbidities, which are more difficult to treat, generate increased healthcare costs and lead to poor quality of life compared to individual diseases. With the number of older people steadily increasing this presents a societal challenge. Age is the major risk factor for age-related diseases and recent research developments have led to the proposal that pharmacological interventions targeting common mechanisms of ageing may be able to delay the onset of multimorbidity. Here we review the state of the knowledge of multimorbidity, appraise the available evidence supporting the role of mechanisms of ageing in the development of the most common age-related diseases and assess potential molecules that may successfully target those key mechanisms.
Source: Mechanisms of Ageing and Development - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research