MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF RUSSIA

Federal state budget educational

institution of higher professional education

“Yaroslavl State University named after. P.G. Demidov”

Department of Social Technologies

Report on the topic:

History of the development of gerontology

Student of group SR – 41 BO

Belchenkova K.G.

Yaroslavl 2014

History of the development of gerontology

From the moment of the birth of human society and as it develops, man's desire to live a long, biologically and socially active life is constantly revealed. Man seems to be trying to compete with the Old Testament biblical characters in achieving longevity and maintaining physical strength, clarity of thought, wisdom of behavior, and creative aspirations. On the other hand, especially long-lived people arouse interest, attract attention and are regarded as specially marked by the creator, worthy of living a long life. In attempts to prolong life, humanity has used numerous methods, with inevitable disappointment, to find some elixir of youth. Gradually, attempts to establish the causes of premature death and aging and find means to counteract this are acquiring the features of meaningful searches based on accumulated facts. A new scientific discipline is emerging - gerontology. This term has many definitions. Let's look at them in more detail.

Gerontology is the science of old age and aging, studying the biological processes of aging, the essence of old age and the impact of its onset on a person and society as a whole.

Gerontology is a branch of biology and medicine that studies the patterns of aging of living organisms, including humans. Includes geriatrics (a branch of clinical medicine that studies diseases of senile and elderly people, developing methods for their diagnosis, treatment and prevention), gerohygiene and gerontopsychology. There are also social gerontology (studies demographic, social and other aspects of old age and aging), comparative (establishes general and specific patterns of aging of organisms of different biological species) and evolutionary (identifies patterns and mechanisms of aging of organisms in an evolutionary aspect).

Gerontology is a science that studies the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging, its causes, ways to combat it and prolong life.

Gerontology is one of the most complex natural sciences that studies the aging process, its biological, medical, social, psychological and economic aspects.

Gerontology is the science of aging, studies the normal process of human aging, its main directions and factors influencing the nature, pace and intensity of senile changes.

The problems of old age were first raised by the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460–370 BC). He described the specific symptoms of old age, and developed a hygienic regimen for the elderly: moderation in everything, movement, baths, special massage with herbs, oils for the body and joints, the first distinction of chronological age. Hippocrates identified diseases characteristic of older people: urolithiasis, cataracts, hearing loss, joint diseases, insomnia.

The ancient Roman physician Galen (129–200) distinguished between normal and painful aging. He named the disease “herocomia.” According to Galen, his relatives should pay special attention to caring for the strikas. An old man should live with his family. He also proposed ideas for preventing old age - diet and nutrition.

F. Bacon (1561–1626) – English philosopher and scientist. He created classifications of sciences, distinguishing the sciences of nature and the sciences of man. In the human sciences he included the science of increasing life expectancy. He was convinced that research into the aging process would help reveal its causes and the possibility of increasing life expectancy. Bacon was the first to note the negative impact of bad habits on health.

In the 19th century in Europe, doctrines about old age are being formed on the basis of clinical observations in Europe, geriatric centers “Salpêtrière” and “Bicêtre” (Paris) are being created. In 1912, a community of geriatricians was created in New York under the leadership of I. Nasher. In 1914, he published the first textbook on gerontology and geriatrics for medical students. Nasher substantiates the need to open specialized medical institutions (clinics, centers) for the treatment of the elderly.

In Russia in the 18th century. – the book “On Old Age, Its Degrees and Diseases” by I. Fisher is published, where he draws attention to the influence of ecology on

aging processes of the body. In the 19th century – E. Engalychev publishes the book “On the Extension of Human Life,” paying attention to the methods and reasons that influence longevity. The history of the development of gerontology in Russia is interestingly presented in the works of such researchers as Anisimov, Lazebnik, Likhnitskaya, Bakhtiyarov.

In the history of the formation and development of domestic gerontology, several key points can be identified.

First of all, this is the publication of the book by I.I. Mechnikov “Studies of Optimism” (1903), in which the term “gerontology” was first introduced and its foundations were laid as a scientific discipline about the biology and physiology of aging. In the 20s XX century works by N.A. Belova, A.A. Bogdanova, S.A. Voronova, M.S. Milman, I.I. Schmalshusen aroused interest in the study of the aging processes of the body and raised the question of the possibility of increasing the life expectancy of animals and humans.

Thus, the 30s–40s. characterized by the formation of the first domestic gerontological schools in the country - Kyiv and Kharkov (A.A. Bogomolets, A.V. Nagorny, I.N. Bulankin) and the Leningrad school

(3.G. Frenkel, E.S. Bauer, V.G. Baranov).

In 1938, the first scientific conference on aging was held in Kyiv. In 1957 in Leningrad, on the initiative of 3.G. Frenkel created the country's first city Scientific Society of Gerontologists and Geriatricians. In the same year, a gerontological section of the Moscow Society of Natural Scientists was organized in Moscow.

In 1958, the Research Institute of Gerontology of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences was organized in Kyiv

and on its basis the scientific councils of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the USSR Academy of Sciences on gerontology. In 1963, the 1st All-Union Conference on Gerontology and Geriatrics was held in Kyiv and the All-Union Scientific and Medical Society of Gerontologists and Geriatricians was established, which successfully functioned until the end of the 80s. The Scientific Council of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences on gerontology and geriatrics was created, which coordinated research work in all republics.

The collapse of the USSR led to the complete disintegration of all-Union structures

and the almost complete cessation of systematic research in gerontology and geriatrics on the territory of the Russian Federation. It was necessary to create practically anew both associations of specialists and research and practical institutions of this profile.

The first regional gerontological center was created in Nizhny Novgorod (1989), and a city geriatric center was created in St. Petersburg (1994). In 1992, the Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology was organized in St. Petersburg. In 1992, on the initiative of Candidate of Medical Sciences L.D. Itkina created the Moscow (later interregional) association “Gerontology and Geriatrics”, which united mainly practical doctors working in the field of geriatrics.

A turning point in the modern history of Russian gerontology was the convening, on the initiative of the St. Petersburg Scientific Society of Gerontologists, in March 1994 in St. Petersburg, of the All-Russian founding conference “Medical and social aspects of gerontology and geriatrics,” at which the Gerontological Society was established, in November 1995 which received the status of an institution under the Russian Academy of Sciences and united the country's leading gerontologists and geriatricians, regardless of their departmental affiliation. In 1994, the Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education was created in Moscow.

In 1995, by order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, a new medical specialty “geriatrician” was approved, the first issue of the journal “Clinical Gerontology” (Moscow) and a guide for doctors “Practical Geriatrics” (Samara) were published. In 1996, the Gerontological Society became part of the European Branch of the International Association of Gerontology. In the same year, the International Center for the Problems of the Elderly Research Institute was opened on the basis of the Samara Regional War Veterans Hospital.

Since 1996, the “Bulletin of the Gerontological Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences” began to be published regularly. In 1997, the Russian Research Institute of Gerontology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation was organized in Moscow, and elections in the specialty “gerontology and geriatrics” were held for the first time in the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

In 1998, the Interdepartmental Scientific Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation was created and began to work, and International Centers for Elderly Affairs were organized in Ulyanovsk and Yaroslavl on the basis of regional hospitals for war veterans.

In 1999, the First Russian Congress of Gerontologists and Geriatricians took place. Played an important role in the development of the country's geriatric service

organization of medical care for elderly and senile citizens

age in the Russian Federation,” which provides for the organization in all regions of the country of geriatric centers, departments of medical and social assistance to the elderly in outpatient clinics and a number of other important organizational measures, including measures to train personnel and improve their qualifications.

In August 2014, Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council “On the development of the social protection system for older citizens.” The main topics of the meeting are improving the socio-economic situation of older people and the availability of healthcare services for this category of the population.

V. Putin: “Our agenda includes issues of social protection of older people. This topic is extremely important, very sensitive, it concerns almost a quarter of the population of our country. And today we have to discuss a whole range of measures that need to be taken in this area, of course, taking into account the demographic and economic capabilities of the country.

Let me note right away that we have managed to increase life expectancy throughout the country. This figure is still more modest than in some other countries. Today, life expectancy is almost 70.8 years. Even though I said this is more modest than in other countries, it is still 4 years more than in 2006.

Now we are faced with the task of achieving a life expectancy of at least 74 years by 2018, and 75.7 by 2020. To solve these problems, it is necessary to improve the quality of life of people of retirement age. Let me emphasize: such positive changes must occur in all regions of the country. It should be taken into account that different groups of pensioners have their own aspirations, needs, and requirements. In general, they are no longer perceived—pensioners, I mean—as weak, defenseless, and in need of constant state patronage.”

Traditionally, old age is associated with illness, addiction and lack of productivity. Today these traditional ideas are considered fundamentally wrong. In fact, most people are quite capable of adapting as they age and remain independent into very old age. In developed countries, older people continue to work in paid and unpaid work. Volunteering by older people represents an important contribution to social life.

Health, well-being and productivity in older age depend on a range of factors, and with the right environment, people can enjoy more productive lives.

List of sources and literature used

1. The problem of ensuring well-being and access to healthcare in old age: in the face of active aging of the planet's population Electronic resource // Second World Assembly on Aging. – Access mode: http://www.un.org/russian/conferen/ageing/advancing.htm (access date 10/8/2014).

2. Smolkin A. Historical forms of attitude towards old age // Otechestvennye zapiski. – 2007 – No. 3.

3. Smirnova T.V. Stereotypical image and social distance // Sociological studies. – 2009. – No. 8 (August). – pp. 49–55.

4. Ermolaev, Yu.A. Age physiology / Yu.A. Ermolaev. – M.: Higher School, 2005.

5.Immunology and aging. – M.: Higher School, 2010.

6. Khrisanforova, E.N. Constitution and biochemical individuality of a person / E.N. Khrisanforova. – M.: Higher School, 2007.

Questions on the topic “History of the development of gerontology”

What do you understand by the term “gerontology”?

Who first described the specific symptoms of old age, and also developed a hygienic regime for the elderly?

According to which of the ancient Roman doctors Special attention Should relatives care about the elderly?

An English scientist who studied the aging process and was the first to note the negative impact of bad habits on people's health?

When did the first geriatric centers appear in Europe?

Who first introduced the term “gerontology” in Russia and laid its foundations as scientific discipline about the biology and physiology of aging?

In what year did the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation approve the new medical specialty “geriatrician”?

What did the order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation of 1999 provide for “On improving the organization of medical care for elderly and old age in the Russian Federation"?

What tasks were set by V. Putin at the meeting of the Presidium of the State Council “On the development of the social protection system for older citizens”?

10) What, in general, do you think determines the happy life of older people?

Answers to questions on the topic “History of the development of gerontology”

Gerontology is the science of old age and aging, studying the biological processes of aging, the essence of old age and the impact of its onset on a person and society as a whole.

Hippocrates (460–370 BC)

According to the ancient Roman physician Galen (129–200)

F. Bacon (1561–1626)

The first geriatric centers appeared in Europe in the 19th century.

I.I. Mechnikov is a Russian and French biologist, the founder of scientific gerontology.

In 1995, by order of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, a new medical specialty “geriatrician” was approved.

The order provided for the organization in all regions of the country of geriatric centers, departments of medical and social assistance to the elderly in outpatient clinics and a number of other important organizational measures, including measures to train personnel and improve their qualifications.

The following goals were set: to increase life expectancy (by 2018, achieve a life expectancy of at least 74 years, and by 2020 - 75.7); improve quality people's lives, retirement age;

10) In my opinion, a happy life for older people depends on....

Gerontology is the science of old age and aging. Development prospects, sections of gerontology. Brief historical essay

Changing the age structure of the population towards its aging –
distinguishing feature modern era. Since 1950, the relative proportion of people over 65 years of age in the population of economically developed countries has doubled and
is 13–14%, and by 2020 it will increase to 20%. Demographically
old population in the 21st century will become a typical phenomenon for all countries.

In accordance with the action plan formulated by the World
the UN Assembly on Aging, held in Vienna in 1982,
Many countries around the world have developed and are developing programs for
improving the health and quality of life of older people and
old age. The problem of rehabilitation of older people relates to
social sections of national programs.

Speaking about the prerequisites for rehabilitation, there is a high degree of
loneliness, melancholy and isolation in the elderly. At the same time they are capable
not only work, but also learn and adapt to new conditions. This
a tragic situation gives the elderly a feeling of uselessness,
aggravated in the conditions of modern industrial society, in
where there is a cult of youth and a disdainful attitude towards
old age.

Human health and the very duration of his life are closely related to the nature of aging of the body. The science of aging - gerontology (from the Greek geron, genus gerontos - old man, old man) studies the normal process of human aging, its main manifestations and factors influencing the nature, pace and intensity of senile changes. Closely related to gerontology is geriatrics, a field of medicine that studies diseases of elderly and senile people. Gerontology should occupy an important place in educational programs in valeology as a science of health, especially since many changes, which are later called senile, can begin quite early - in adulthood or even in youth. The basis of gerontology is the biology of aging, however, the problem of aging is inherently complex: biomedical, psychological.

The origins of clinical geriatrics in Russia are connected with the ideas of S.P. Botkin and the works of his students, published in the 90s. XIX century Thoughts SP. Botkin about the theory of human aging, features of age-related changes in the development and course of atherosclerosis and some others
diseases in the elderly were reflected in the works of his students and collaborators. The term “geriatrics” was proposed in 1914 by the American physician J. L. Nаcher, who not only proposed it, but also substantiated the requirements to distinguish geriatrics as an independent specialty.

In our country since the 50s. last century, the main research was carried out at the Institute of Gerontology of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences in Kyiv, as well as in numerous research institutes and departments of medical institutes.

Geriatrics– the science of diseases of elderly and senile people.

By analogy with pediatrics, if pediatrics studies diseases child's body, then geriatrics is a disease of old people.

The main tasks of geriatrics are to elucidate, based on data on the biology of human aging, the features of the clinical course, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of premature aging. A. Stormer (1983) indicates that on average 3–4 diseases are identified in men, and 5.2 in women. However, the reality is much more complicated. In many cases, the pathology of an elderly and old person can be compared to an iceberg, more than 6/7 of which is hidden under water. To identify this hidden part of the iceberg, you need a detailed study of the patient’s body, a good knowledge of not only the age-related characteristics of the course of internal diseases, but also the symptoms of the main diseases of the nervous system, genitourinary systems and musculoskeletal system.

When examining older people, diagnostic errors are more common. This is due to the fact that in old age the body’s reaction to the disease is different, the presence of frequent complications, as well as the interpretation of the symptoms of the emerging disease by the patient himself as a manifestation of old age, and therefore he does not seek medical help in a timely manner. The whole concept of “aging” is essentially an applied science. It covers a group of influences that we have identified because of their destructive action, in other words, because people don't like them.

Some theoretical biologists have gone to the point of complete bankruptcy in this field, developing philosophical skepticism about whether aging is even a “determinate entity.” In the abstract sense, it really is no more such than a disease. However, these same biologists, as they approach seventy years of age, will undoubtedly be confronted with a series of changes that must lead to death within some foreseeable period of time. Since biology is not just a form of idle curiosity, its purpose is to create ways to keep people active and healthy for longer periods of time than has previously been the case, in other words, to extend life. individual person. Nowadays people rightly expect that "science" will provide the fulfillment, or at least find ways to realize the ancient aspirations of man, which our ancestors tried unsuccessfully to achieve with the help of magic, or at least find the means for this.

Under the influence of the research necessary to realize these aspirations, the nature of the aspirations themselves changes and becomes realistic; Thus, in our time, most people prefer longevity, which is achievable, to impractical physical immortality. By the way, the term “potential immortality” is disappearing from biological literature.

It is possible that gerontologists will have to repeatedly defend the legitimacy of setting the problem of extending human life, especially in our time, when there are scientists seeking to find ethical arguments against the advisability of extending people's lives, at least in those societies to which they themselves do not belong.

We have seen that aging, biologically speaking, is not a very clearly defined concept. In most animals it is observed only under artificial conditions, and for most of us it would probably be pointless to spend so much effort on such an arbitrarily isolated part of ontogenesis if the main desire of people were not connected with this. And since this is so, medicine has always considered the extension active life one of its most obvious tasks. Gerontology differs from other branches of medical biology in that while most medical research aims to make the human survival curve rectangular, gerontology seeks to lengthen the rectangle and push the inflection point as far as possible. The statements of authors such as Vogt are well worthy of the rebuke levied by James Parkinson (1755–1824): “if the population is dissatisfied with the means of subsistence, it is not nature that is to blame, but the inability of politicians to discover hidden defects in the laws of the distribution and appropriation of property.” Postponement of the onset of old age, like other achievements in the field of environmental management, must be accompanied by corresponding restructuring of society.

Social, economic and political factors undoubtedly play a leading role in preventing death in old age. However, whatever problems may arise in connection with the future increase in the species age of man, medicine can afford to treat
to all protests based on selfish and wrong
interpreting the biology of human communities, with the contempt they deserve, as a mixture of ignorance and pseudoscience.

The fascination of earlier researchers with magical rejuvenation did not benefit the development of science, but was, at least, a completely humane activity.

The possible social consequences of longevity, which are perhaps the most important practical aspect, have not been considered at all in this book. The entire course of evolution indicates the existence of a connection between survival in old age and the presence of social forms of life.

Over the past 160 years, life expectancy in economically developed countries has increased continuously at an average rate of three months per year. This phenomenon, as well as the significant aging of the population of economically developed and developing countries, that is, the increase in the proportion of elderly people in its structure, which became especially noticeable in the last quarter of the 20th century (Schulz-Aellen, 1997; Vaupel et al., 1998; Tinker, 2002; Kalache, Gatti, 2003), caused a natural and significant increase in interest in gerontology and, above all, in the study of the primary mechanisms of aging of organisms and populations and the factors that determine life expectancy.

Gerontology (Greek geron, geront(os) – old man + logos teaching) is a science that studies the patterns of aging of living beings, including humans, and old age. The term was first proposed by I.I. Mechnikov in 1903 (cited from: Mechnikov, 1988). In “Studies of Optimism,” Ilya Ilyich emphasized that the study of old age is not only of great theoretical interest, but at the same time also of practical importance. Modern gerontology is an interdisciplinary science, which includes the biology of aging, clinical gerontology (geriatrics), gerontopsychology and social gerontology (gerohygiene). The term “geriatrics” was introduced in 1909 by the American physician I. L. Nasher. In 1914, he published the first book in the United States, entitled Geriatrics: Diseases of Old Age and Their Treatment.

The task of the biology of aging is to elucidate the primary mechanisms of aging of organisms and populations and the factors that determine life expectancy. The study of the biology of aging includes both experimental studies on animals of various species, and clinical researches people at different periods of life. Population aging is one of the most important problems, which is currently becoming of great importance for the economic and social policies of not only developed but also developing countries. Around the world, more and more people are living into old age (60–74 years) and old age. Currently, and in the future for several generations, most people have a reasonable chance of living to 75 years or more. In the coming years, further gradual aging of the population is expected, with a predominant increase in elderly people (75 years and older).

Attention to the problems of geriatrics in health care institutions and social security, everyone medical workers and persons working in related fields related to the provision of geriatric care is becoming increasingly important in solving both individual problems of pensioners aimed at preserving their physical, mental and
social health, and tasks related to the economy of the state, the growth of well-being of the entire population of the country.

There are many problems that are common to
older age groups and the entire population. At the same time, some of them reflect the specific characteristics and needs characteristic of elderly and senile people.

First of all, these are issues of providing medical and social assistance. Problems of continuation are inseparable from them labor activity, preparation for the transition to retirement age, determination of a rational lifestyle.

Progressive aging of the population of developed countries and
The problems associated with it against the backdrop of advances in biology and medicine became a stimulus for the development of gerontology.

Gerontology (the science of aging) has three main branches.

Biology of aging– a branch of gerontology that combines
study of the aging process of living organisms (higher animals and humans) on different levels their organization: subcellular, cellular, tissue, organ and systemic. The study of aging of the whole organism unites the activities of biologists and physicians - from specialists in the field of molecular biology and genetics to specialists in the field of experimental and clinical physiology, pathophysiology, pathomorphology, etc. The results of their work contribute to the understanding
mechanisms of normal aging of animals and humans, reveal the reasons for the development of pathological processes characteristic of an aging organism, the features of the course various diseases in people of older age groups.

Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine – the doctrine of diseases of elderly and senile people: features of their clinical course, treatment, prevention, organization of medical and social care.

Geriatric medicine studies diseases that mainly accompany old age: memory loss, senile dementia, osteoporosis, fracture femur, adenoma and prostate cancer. She also focuses on diseases that are typical for other age groups, but have specific features in old age (atherosclerosis with its complications, arterial symptomatic hypertension, hypertension, heart failure, late-onset diabetes mellitus, chronic nonspecific lung diseases, mental depression, cancer diseases, etc.).

Social gerontology studies the influence of living conditions on the human aging process and develops measures aimed at eliminating the negative impact of environmental factors. This is the doctrine of the relationship between the age of an aging person, his health and performance in environmental conditions.

Social gerontology deals with issues of health statistics, the influence of population aging on the development of the country and, conversely, the development of the country on the level of provision for the elderly, the position of older people in the family and society, relationships between generations, etc.

Social gerontology combines ideas about the lifestyle of an aging person (work in pre-retirement and retirement age, food hygiene, rest, physical activity, personal hygiene, etc.), and also clarifies the causes of early professional aging.

1 Define gerontology and geriatrics.

2 Name the main branches of gerontology and give their definitions.

Lecture No. 2

Aging and old age

For a long time life and death in idealistic and vulgar
materialist philosophy were viewed as two categories that negate each other. The true definition of their relationships was given by F. Engels: “Even now, physiology is not considered scientific if it does not consider death as an essential moment of life, which does not understand that the negation of life is essentially contained in life itself, so that life is always thought of in relation with its necessary result, which is always in embryo - death. The dialectical understanding of life comes down to exactly this.”

Thus, in the course of life, aging develops, which ultimately denies life, leading to the death of the organism. Diseases such as atherosclerosis, arterial hypertension, coronary heart and brain disease, diabetes, and cancer occur mainly in the second half of a person’s life and are often associated with the aging process. That's why the most
effective means prevention of these diseases are interventions aimed at the rate of aging. With different combinations and varying degrees clinical symptoms observed: atherosclerotic lesion vessels of the heart and brain (coronary heart disease, atherosclerotic encephalopathy), arterial symptomatic hypertension, hypertension, pulmonary emphysema, neoplastic processes in the lungs and digestive organs, skin, chronic gastritis with secretory insufficiency, cholelithiasis, chronic pyelonephritis, prostate adenoma, diabetes mellitus, spinal osteochondrosis, arthrosis, often (up to 10% of old people) depression, eye diseases (cataracts, glaucoma), hearing loss (as a result of acoustic neuritis or otosclerosis), etc.

Diagnosis and analysis of combined pathology requires a wide range of knowledge from the doctor and not only age-related changes in organs and systems, but also the symptoms of certain diseases of the nervous system, musculoskeletal system, genitourinary system, features of the course of surgical diseases, oncological alertness, etc.

Features of the clinical course of diseases. Elderly and old people may suffer from diseases that began in their youth or adulthood. This mainly applies to some inflammatory, metabolic processes, persistent functional disorders with a long-term chronic course. Like young people, they can also develop acute, including infectious, diseases. However, age-related characteristics of the body cause significant deviations in the course of these diseases. Most characteristic atypicality, unresponsiveness, smoothness clinical manifestations of diseases.

An old person tends to slowly
growing pathological processes, at the age of 40–45 the process of “accumulation” of diseases already occurs. In old age and especially old age, the structure of morbidity changes significantly due to a decrease in the number of acute diseases and an increase in the number of diseases associated with the progression of chronic pathological ones. Clinical observations of the development and course of diseases in people of older age groups indicate that long-established diagnostic schemes for many
internal (and oncological) diseases are not applicable in geriatric practice. Diagnosis, like therapy, in older people requires a different approach than in younger people. This is caused by a number of reasons: a) a slower and often masked course of neoplastic processes in internal organs, pneumonia, myocardial infarction, pulmonary tuberculosis, diabetes mellitus, closely related to the development of atherosclerosis and its complications; b) a different genesis and course of gastric ulcers developing due to atherosclerosis; c) the influence of clinically pronounced age-related processes in the bones and joints of the spine, causing both circulatory disturbances in a number of great vessels and special symptoms, which are often the cause of erroneous diagnosis of heart disease; d) the hidden course of disasters in abdominal cavity requiring emergency surgical intervention.

Among the reasons are many other features of the course of acute diseases, caused by new properties of the aging human body, changes in its protective reactions, including immune reactions. Acute diseases often take on a subchronic form; the severity of the damage to the body does not correspond to the mild symptoms of the disease.

When observing elderly and senile patients,
assessing their condition and conducting diagnostics, it is necessary to take into account not only the degree of deviation from age-related norms, but also the heterogeneity of the degree and rate of development of involution, degenerative-dystrophic processes, usually observed with premature aging, and the emergence of new qualities of adaptation mechanisms in various body systems. The cardiovascular system is the first to undergo changes; Aging of the digestive organs occurs at the slowest pace.

It is necessary to strictly distinguish between the concepts of aging and old age, cause and effect.

Old age – the naturally occurring final period of age-related development.

Aging– a destructive process that develops as a result of the damaging effects of exogenous and endogenous factors increasing with age, leading to insufficiency
physiological functions of the body. Aging leads to a limitation of the body's adaptive capabilities, a decrease in its reliability, and the development of age-related pathology. The participation of environmental factors in the development of aging justifies the search for an optimal lifestyle and environmental conditions that help slow the rate of aging. Environmental factors, influencing biological processes, affect life expectancy. The time of old age. Age periods do not have sharp boundaries. Along with the increase in life expectancy, ideas about the time of old age have changed.
Thus, the average life expectancy in Ancient Rome was 28–30 years, so 40-year-old people were considered old people, and 60-year-olds were considered depontinus, suitable only for sacrifices. According to the WHO classification, age 45–59 years is considered middle-aged, 60–74 years old – elderly, people aged 75 years and older are called old, and over
90 years old - long-lived.

1 What is old age and aging? Their fundamental difference.

2 What processes are characteristic of old age?

3 Historical aspects of assessing the population’s views on old age.

Lecture No. 3

Aging and the sequence of ontogenetic processes. Constitutional features, belonging to a certain ecological-population group, the influence of social factors. Biological age of men and women.

There is an ingrained idea in public opinion that women age earlier and faster. This is reflected in the preferences that are usually given to those marriages where the groom is older than the bride, but not vice versa. However, here two phenomena that do not quite coincide with each other are mixed up. According to biological processes, according to gerontologists, women age more slowly and live 6–8 years longer. For example, similar changes in the tissues of old women and men occur in the latter by eight years earlier, that is, the biological aging of women occurs later. The greater vitality of women continues throughout life. Initially, more male embryos are laid, and during the first years of life and even the second or third decades, a certain predominance of men may remain, but by the end of the third decade the numbers of both sexes are almost equal, and then the numerical predominance of women increases at an increasing pace. Among centenarians aged 100 years, the ratio is approximately three to four women per man. Probably, a certain role may be played by the protective function of female sex hormones - estrogens, which have an anti-sclerotic effect, and the overall greater resistance of the female body as an adaptation to increased biological stress during childbirth. After menopause, women develop atherosclerosis faster.

On the other hand, as already mentioned, women have more
childbearing function stops early and abruptly. This is also a kind of adaptation, protecting the aging body from the already unbearable load associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Female aging is often accompanied by “masculinization”: deepening of the voice, facial features, changes in figure, gait, gestures, appearance of facial hair (on the chin, upper lip), and a tendency toward baldness.

However, these processes are by no means obligatory and can vary greatly individually. Typically, in healthy women, menopause is painless, although there may be circulatory disorders (“hot flashes”) and some diseases. It is on these phenomena that the idea of ​​earlier aging of women is based, although, as we have seen, it is not entirely adequate to general aging, simply reflecting an earlier “fading” of women, often associated with a loss of sexual attractiveness.

In men, withering is less distinct and extends over a longer period, but it evenly leads to aging of the entire organism. Therefore, men retain their reproductive potential longer and have a youthful appearance. However, this preservation of sexual ability does not extend to the true vitality of the organism: they have more pronounced sclerotic processes and a higher biological age. The life expectancy of men is shorter than that of women.

Biological age and constitution. The pace of aging
as well as development, to a certain extent depend on the human constitution. For example, V.P. Voitenko (1979) distinguishes two types of aging of the female reproductive system, associated with the characteristics of the hormonal constitution; differences in thyroid status (in the ratio of thyroxine and thyrotropin) have been established, corresponding to two different types of aging in women. It should also be noted that in old age (60–69 years) some of the most important parameters of vitality, for example, hormones thyroid gland, ORE, cholesterol, and others, exhibit “two-vertex” (bimodality) in their distribution within groups, which indicates the identification of two different subpopulations in old age—variants of aging. Interestingly, at the threshold of longevity, in women 80–89 years old, the distribution again becomes univertex. At the same time, potential long-livers experience a kind of “rejuvenation” of some functions, such as, for example, higher
the level of the main thyroid hormone, thyroxine, than in previous age groups; There is also evidence of a slight increase in lymphocyte metabolism in people 90 years old, compared to 70–79 year olds, as well as lower cholesterol in centenarians.

In some groups of humanity (for example, the Arabs of North Africa), cholesterol remains almost unchanged with age. In Japanese, manifestations of atherosclerosis are 10 times less common than in North Americans, while Japanese living in the United States suffer from atherosclerosis as often as the rest of the population.

Should be distinguished calendar(amount of time lived) and biological age. People age at different rates and the duration of their upcoming lives; their adaptive capabilities at the same age differ significantly from each other. Biological age– this is a measure of the aging of the body, its health, and future life expectancy. Determining biological age is very important for distinguishing between physiological and premature aging, developing a system of preventive measures, the social structure of a person, implementing pension policy, etc. The more a person’s calendar age is ahead of his biological age, the slower the rate of his aging, the longer his life expectancy should be.

Age-related changes in physiological systems. In people, age-related changes develop unevenly. Often the rate of aging of some systems, for example, cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, is faster than the rate of aging of others. This is what creates difficulties in determining biological age, which should comprehensively characterize the rate of aging of the entire organism. Biological age is determined based on a complex characteristic functional state various systems of the body, assessing its adaptive capabilities. That is why, to determine biological age, it is important, on the one hand, to study a set of functions that naturally change with age (visual acuity, hearing, pulse wave velocity, muscle strength, blood pressure, vital capacity, etc.), on the other hand, widespread use functional loads to establish the level of adaptation of regulatory mechanisms.

Currently, scientists have proposed the following formulas for calculating biological age:

BV (biological age) of men:

26.985 + 0.215 x ADS – 0.149 x HFA – 0.151x SB +0.723 x POP

BV (biological age) of women:

–1.463 + 0.415 x ADP – 0.140 x SB + 0.248 x MT + 0.694 x SOZ. Let us explain what ADS, HDV, SB, ADP, MT and POP are, and how to determine them.

SBP (systolic blood pressure) is measured using
apparatus for measuring blood pressure (BP) on right hand, sitting, with
at intervals of 5 minutes. The lowest pressure is taken into account. Blood pressure is measured in
mmHg (millimeters of mercury). Let's look at a short example:

When measuring blood pressure three times with an interval of 5 minutes, the following results were obtained:
results:

1) 125/70 mmHg.

2) 130/75 mmHg, and

3) 130/70 mmHg. The first number is systolic blood pressure. Let's take it
the smallest of three digits – 125 mmHg. In the formula, instead of ADS, we substitute
number 125.

DPV (duration of holding your breath after a deep breath)
measured three times with an interval of 5 minutes using a stopwatch.
The largest value of HFA measured in seconds is taken into account.

SB (static balancing) is determined when the subject stands on his left leg, without shoes, eyes closed, arms down along the body. This indicator must be measured without prior training. The duration of the SB is measured three times using a stopwatch with
at intervals of 5 minutes. Taken into account best result. SB is measured in
seconds.

ADP (pulse blood pressure). This is the name of the difference between ABP (systolic blood pressure) and ABP (diastolic blood pressure). Blood pressure is measured in mmHg. Let us explain with an example how the measurement is performed. For example, when measuring blood pressure three times with an interval of 5 minutes, the following figures were obtained:

1) 125/70 mmHg; 2) 130/75 mmHg; 3) 130/70 mmHg.

The numerator of the fraction is systolic blood pressure (SBP).
The denominator of the fraction is diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Let's take it
the smallest numbers of ADS and ADD are 125 and 70. The difference between them will be 125 -
70 = 55 (this is pulse blood pressure, ADP). Number 55 included
instead of the letters ADP in the formula for calculating biological age.

BW (body weight). Determined using scales. Weighing is carried out in light clothing, in the morning, without shoes. Measured in kilograms.

SOH (subjective health assessment) is carried out using a questionnaire,
including 29 questions. Namely:

1 Do you have headaches?

2 Would you say that you easily wake up from any noise?

3 Do you worry about pain in the heart area?

4 Do you think your hearing has become worse in recent years?

5 Do you think that your vision has deteriorated in recent years?

6 Do you try to drink only boiled water?

7 Are they giving you a seat in public transport?

8 Do you worry about joint pain?

9 Does changing weather affect your well-being?

10 Do you ever have periods when you lose sleep due to worry?

11 Do constipation bother you?

12 Are you bothered by pain in the liver area?

13 Do you ever get dizzy?

14 Do you find it more difficult to concentrate now than in previous years?

15 Are you worried about memory loss or forgetfulness?

16 Do you feel burning, tingling,
"Crawling of goosebumps"?

17 Do noise or ringing in your ears bother you?

18 Do you keep one of the following in your first aid kit?
medications: validol, nitroglycerin, heart drops?

19 Do you have swelling in your legs?

20 Do you have to give up some dishes?

21 Do you experience shortness of breath when walking quickly?

22 Are you bothered by pain in the lumbar region?

23 Do you have to use any medicine for medicinal purposes?
mineral water?

24 Do you have an unpleasant taste in your mouth?

25 Can we say that you began to cry easily?

26 Do you go to the beach?

27 Do you think that you are now as productive as before?

28 Do you ever have periods when you feel joyfully excited and happy?

29 How do you assess your health?

For the first 28 questions, possible answers are “Yes” or
"No". Answers “Yes” to questions 1–25 and answers “No” to questions 26–28 are considered unfavorable.

The following answers to question 29 in the questionnaire are possible: “good”,
"fair", "bad" and "very bad". Unfavorable
one of the last two answers is considered.

After answering the survey questions, the total number of
unfavorable responses (it can range from 0 to 29). Number
unfavorable responses, expressed as a number from 0 to 29, is included in the formula
to determine BV, instead of the letters POP in the formula.
Can determine your biological age using formulas
any person independently.

There are general patterns and fundamental mechanisms of animal aging different types and individuals. However, along with this, specific and individual characteristics of aging are noted. When comparing the aging of animals of different species, chronobiological changes, that is, correlating with astronomical time. The longer the species lifespan, the more pronounced these changes are (for example, age-related changes
connective tissue, vessel walls). Ontobiological features correlate with biological age (for example, changes in neurohumoral regulation of protein biosynthesis). Species-specific changes characteristic of animals of one species and not characteristic of animals of another species (for example, changes in the activity of many enzymes, lipid metabolism). Exist individual characteristics aging characteristic of individuals.

Natural aging characterized by a certain pace and sequence of age-related changes corresponding to the biological, adaptive and regulatory capabilities of a given human population. Premature (accelerated) aging characterized by earlier development of age-related changes or their greater severity in a particular age period. Premature (accelerated) aging is promoted by previous diseases, adverse environmental factors, including stressful situations that can affect different parts of the body.
Chains of age-related changes, accelerate, distort, intensify their normal course. The most common manifestations of premature human aging are easy fatigue, decreased ability to work, early changes in memory, emotional sphere, reproductive ability, decreased adaptive capabilities of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, etc. There is slow (retarded) aging, leading to increased life expectancy and longevity. Age-related changes in these cases occur much later than in the population as a whole. There are a number of population differences in the development of aging. For example,
blood pressure levels in older people
the lowest among residents of Abkhazia, then among residents of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Lithuania. Age-related population differences have also been established in relation to some blood parameters - the concentration of cholesterol, phospholipids, lipoproteins, etc.

Species lifespan. Varies widely
range - from several hours to several tens of years.
A sharp jump in changes in species life expectancy
occurred during the human stage. He was associated with the emergence
high level of adaptation-regulatory mechanisms, evolution of the brain, thinking, psyche, improvement of the regulation of homeostasis. Over the past 100 thousand years, the maximum human life expectancy has increased by about 14 years. This increase occurred due to the improvement of the habitat, the mixing of gene pools of different nations and peoples, and social transformations. An important indicator of population health is the average life expectancy - the number of years that on average a given generation will live, provided that the mortality rate of the population in the future will be at the current level. Average life expectancy in our country in 1985–1986. was 69 years old (64 years old for men, 73 years old for women). Along with the increase in life expectancy, the difference between this indicator for men and women increases, associated with a number of social and biological factors.

One of the most important demographic features of the 20th century.
is the aging of the population in many countries of the world, that is, an increase in both the relative and absolute number of older people. The aging of the population leads to a change in the structure of morbidity, a greater prevalence of diseases characteristic of the elderly population, the need to study the characteristics of the course and treatment of these diseases, to develop means of preventing premature aging and increasing the working capacity of older people. Involving pensioners in work and various forms of social activities has a beneficial effect on their health, is a source of moral satisfaction, and maintains vitality for a long time.

1 Aging and the sequence of ontogenetic processes.

2 Biological age of men and women.

3 Calendar and biological age, give definitions.

4 General patterns and fundamental mechanisms of aging.

5 Define natural and accelerated aging.

Lecture No. 4

General patterns and theories of aging

The future will change your view of everything,
And oddities, similar to fiction,
Looking back from afar,
Someday we won't be able to believe it.

Boris Pasternak

Aging is associated with changes that occur in everyone
levels of organization of living matter - molecular, subcellular, cellular, systemic, whole organism. Natural age-related changes in the body are called homeoresis. Homeorez– “the trajectory of changes in the state of physiological systems, the entire organism, throughout life. Determination of homeoresis allows one to predict age-related development, its natural, accelerated or delayed aging.

The development of aging is characterized by heterochrony– differences in the time of onset of aging of individual organs and tissues. Atrophy of the thymus, for example, in humans begins at the age of 13–15 years, of the gonads - at menopause(48–52 years in women), and some functions of the pituitary gland remain at a high level until old age. Heterotopy– the severity of the aging process is not the same for different organs and for different structures of the same organ (for example, aging of the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex is less pronounced than the glomerular zone). Age-related changes in the body develop with
at different speeds. For example, changes in the musculoskeletal system increase slowly with age; changes in a number of brain structures occur late, but progress quickly, disrupting its function. Age-related changes in the body develop in different directions. For example, the secretion of sex steroid hormones decreases, and the secretion of pituitary gonadotropic hormones increases.

One of the main patterns of aging of the body
is a decrease in its adaptive and regulatory capabilities, that is, reliability. These changes are gradual.

In the course of evolution, along with aging, the process of vitaukta arose. Vitaukt– a process that stabilizes the vital functions of the body, increases its reliability, aimed at preventing damage to living systems with age and increasing life expectancy. Thus, age-related development - ethogenesis - is the result of the unity and opposition of two processes - aging and vitaukta. Their interrelation determines the characteristics of species and individual life expectancy.

At the first stage – “maximum voltage” – thanks to
mobilization of vital processes, the adaptive capabilities of the body, the optimal range of changes in metabolism and function is maintained, despite the progression of aging.

At the second stage – “reliability reduction” – despite
vitaukta processes, the adaptive capabilities of the body are reduced while maintaining the level of basal metabolism and function.

Finally, at the third stage (degradation), the basic metabolism and functions change. Consequently, with aging, the ability to adapt to significant loads first decreases and, ultimately, the level of metabolism and function even at rest change.

Vitaukt mechanisms can be divided into two groups.

Genotypic– genetically programmed mechanisms:

a) a system of antioxidants that binds free radicals; b) the liver microsomal oxidation system, which neutralizes toxic substances; c) a DNA repair system that eliminates damage to this macromolecule; d) antihypoxic system, preventing the development of deep oxygen oxidation.

Phenotypic– mechanisms that arise throughout life due to self-regulation processes and contribute to the preservation of the body’s adaptive capabilities: a) the appearance of multinucleated cells; b) an increase in the size of mitochondria against the background of a decrease in the number of others; c) hypertrophy and hyperfunction of individual cells in conditions of death of some of them; d) increased sensitivity to mediators in conditions
weakening of nervous control.

History of the study of aging. Hypotheses and theories. There are about 300 hypotheses of aging, each of which, albeit one-sidedly, reflects one or another aspect of a complex biological process.

Despite the great interest of scientists from various specialties and wide circles of the scientific community in the problem of aging, we still do not know exactly what causes it. There is no single universal and complete theory of aging yet. There are numerous hypotheses, often partially coinciding with each other or considering different parts of the same processes. In general, these hypotheses affect all levels - from the molecular to the regulatory systems of the entire organism, since, despite the importance and primary significance of molecular genetic changes, it would be difficult to explain all the diversity of manifestations in the overall picture of human aging only by them. At each new level of biological organization, qualitatively new mechanisms arise that lead to aging.

In essence, the main question about the nature of aging was posed
also by the famous ancient philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC): is aging a natural process or a disease? As you know, the ancient Greek scientist answered it like this: “Disease is prematurely acquired old age. Old age is a natural disease.” This definition has not lost its meaning in our time. Although it now seems undeniable that aging is natural process, there is no doubt that in higher vertebrates and especially in humans, a characteristic form of aging is an increase in the number of pathological changes manifested various symptoms and causing various complaints. This specific feature of the period of decline was very succinctly but accurately expressed by the ancient Roman physician Galen, who wrote that health in old age is qualitatively different from health at any other age, representing something between health and illness. The statement of the ancient physician is confirmed by the results modern research centenarians whose age exceeded 100 years and who were mentioned in the previous chapter.

Among the earliest hypotheses is the idea
about aging as a progressive depletion of a given vitality, - for example, theories of “wear and tear” of the body and “waste” going back to Aristotle and Hippocrates vital energy and forces that can be traced back to the 50s of the 20th century and beyond.

Wear hypotheses. The most primitive mechanistic hypotheses viewed aging as simple wear and tear of cells and tissues. One of the first general biological theories proposed by N. Rubner (1908) became famous. The author proceeded from the existence of an inverse relationship between metabolic rate, energy and life expectancy: the “energy theory of aging.” According to Rubner's calculations, the amount of energy per 1 kg of body weight that can be expended over the entire adult life is constant in all animals, and only humans have an energy fund 3–4 times greater than other animals. Subsequently, this reasoning was not confirmed for many species. From the point of view of gerontology, the following conclusion was also incorrect: in order to prolong his life, a person must show minimal activity. In fact, the situation is the opposite, and a passive lifestyle shortens its duration.

Molecular genetic hypotheses. Most attention Usually, molecular genetic hypotheses are used that explain the aging process by primary changes in the genetic apparatus of the cell. Most of them can be divided into two main options. In the first case, age-related changes in the genetic apparatus of cells are considered as hereditarily programmed, in the second - as random. Thus, aging can be a programmed natural process, a logical consequence of growth and maturation, or the result of the accumulation of random errors in the system of storage and transmission of genetic
some information. If you adhere to the first opinion, then aging is essentially
becomes a continuation of development, during which various parts of the genome are turned on and off in a certain sequence fixed in evolution. Then, when “stretching” the development program, the work of the “biological clock” slows down, setting the pace for the aging program. For example, in experiments with food restriction at a young age (animals with “extended life”), growth and, consequently, aging slow down, although the mechanism is far from simple. It is assumed that slowing growth and delaying puberty and the achievement of final body size leads to an increase in life expectancy. That is, aging, like other stages of ontogenesis, is controlled by genes.

Gene-regulatory hypothesis. According to this concept, primary changes occur in regulatory genes - the most active and least protected DNA structures. It is assumed that these genes can determine the rate and sequence of switching on and off of those genes (structural) on which age-related changes in the structure and function of cells depend. There is little direct evidence of age-related DNA changes. Recently, it has been suggested that aging is linked to regions of DNA, some of which shrink in size during aging. The discovery of a special chromosomal enzyme that prevents DNA aging and is capable of rejuvenating human cells was also reported (W. Wright and co-workers).

Error hypothesis was first proposed by L. Orgel (1963). It is based on the assumption that the main cause of aging is the accumulation of genetic damage with age as a result of mutations, which can be either random (spontaneous) or caused by various damaging factors (ionizing radiation, stress, ultraviolet rays, viruses, accumulation in the body by-products chemical reactions and others). Genes, thus, may simply lose the ability to properly regulate certain activities due to the accumulation of DNA damage.

Particular importance is attached to the so-called “free radicals” - highly active chemical particles. With age, they accumulate in tissues and, due to their activity, can ultimately impair cell function and damage DNA. In the experiments of N.M. Emmanuel (1972), an extension of the life of laboratory animals was achieved by introducing substances that bind free radicals, primarily the so-called antioxidants (methionine, vitamin E and others). This result is considered as indirect evidence in favor of the free radical hypothesis. At the same time, there is a special reparation system
(that is, restoration, from Latin reparation), providing
the relative strength of the DNA structure and reliability in the system of transmitting hereditary information. Experiments on several animal species have shown a connection between the activity of DNA repair systems and life expectancy. It is expected to weaken with age. The role of reparation is clearly evident in many cases of premature aging and a sharp shortening of life expectancy. This applies, first of all, to hereditary reparation diseases (progeria, Turner syndrome, some forms of Down disease and others). At the same time, there is new evidence of multiple DNA repairs, which is used as an argument against error hypotheses. In an article entitled “Science Denies Old Age,” French researcher R. Rossion (1995) believes that in light of these facts, the theory of the accumulation of errors in nucleotide sequences requires revision. Still, reparation apparently does not lead to 100% correction of damage. Returning to the beginning of the section devoted to a brief review of some molecular genetic hypotheses of aging, we conclude that it is unlikely that the positions of “programmed” and “unprogrammed” influences on the genetic apparatus can be strictly opposed to each other. During the aging process, there is an interaction between genetic and environmental factors, that is, lifestyle, ecology in a broad sense, can affect the rate of aging (Berdyshev, 1976). In other words, the idea of ​​aging as a consequence of development and differentiation, the inevitable result of the course of the biological clock that determines the program of biological development, does not at all exclude the influence of various random molecular damages that can give rise to further errors.

Neuroendocrine and immune hypotheses. The human neuroendocrine system is the main regulator of its vital functions. Therefore, from the very beginning, gerontology has actively developed hypotheses linking the leading mechanisms of aging at the organism level with primary changes in the neuroendocrine system, which can lead to secondary changes in tissues. At the same time, earlier ideas about the primary significance of changes in the activity of a particular gland (pituitary gland, thyroid or, especially, gonads, and so on) are being replaced by views according to which, with aging, the function of not just one gland changes, but the entire neuroendocrine situation of the body.

Hypotheses linking aging with primary changes in the hypothalamus have become quite widely known. Hypothalamus - part of the diencephalon, generator biological rhythms organism, playing a leading role in regulating the activity of the endocrine glands, which is carried out through the central endocrine gland - the pituitary gland.

According to "hypothalamic clock" hypothesis(Dilman, 1968, 1976), old age is considered as a violation of the internal environment of the body, associated with an increase in the activity of the hypothalamus. As a result, in old age the secretion of hypothalamic hormones (liberins) and a number of pituitary hormones (gonadotropins, somatotropin), as well as insulin, sharply increases. But along with the stimulation of some structures of the hypothalamus, others reduce their activity during aging, which leads to “deregulation” of many aspects of metabolism and body function.

The experience of creating a general biological complex theory of aging of an entire organism is reflected in the adaptation-regulatory hypothesis (Frolkis, 1970, 1975). It is based on a general idea of ​​changes in the body’s self-regulation at different levels of its organization as the causes of aging. The consequence of these processes is shifts in adaptive capabilities. Due to the uneven nature of these age-related changes, adaptive mechanisms develop at different levels of life, starting with regulatory genes. The leading importance in the mechanisms of aging of the whole organism is given to changes in neurohumoral regulation, affecting the sphere of the psyche, emotions, muscle performance, reactions in the circulatory and respiratory systems, and so on. Together with the gene-regulatory concept (see above), these provisions form the basis of the adaptation-regulatory theory, which considers aging as a complex, internally contradictory process. V.V. Frolkis (1995) believes that old age diseases also depend on changes in the activity of certain genes. Therefore, we can assume a connection between age-related pathology and gene regulatory mechanisms of aging.

Along with age-related involution, extinction, disturbances in metabolic and hormonal status and a number of functions, this period is also characterized by the emergence of important adaptive mechanisms. For example, when the secretion of thyroid hormones decreases, the sensitivity of the corresponding tissues (“targets”) to them increases.

Special adaptive mechanisms characteristic only for humans are high level social and labor activity, activity, which allows you to maintain mental and physical performance until old age. They slow down aging and help increase life expectancy. This understanding of the mechanisms of aging is consistent with the idea of ​​it as an adaptation developing in evolution.

The molecular genetic and neuroendocrine hypotheses are directly related to the immune hypotheses of aging.

The immune system is closely related to adaptation, the body's adaptation to stress caused by environmental changes. A healthy immune system protects the body from invasion of viruses, bacteria, fungi and many other foreign substances. With aging, its function is reduced, it loses its effectiveness in performing a number of specific tasks. This is associated with an increase in the body’s susceptibility to a number of diseases, especially the so-called autoimmune diseases, which are based on the body’s ability to distinguish “its” proteins from “foreign” ones. In older people, the percentage of various autoantibodies produced against their own proteins is significantly increased. In the period from 40 to 80 years, it can increase 6–8 times. All this leads to self-destruction and aging of the body, its “immunological disarmament.” The criticism of this hypothesis comes down to the fact that in this case we are not talking about primary changes. Since the immune system itself is very complex, and its regulation is not fully understood, attempts to “rejuvenate” it are not yet fully prepared: “invigorating” the general immune reaction may enhance autoimmune processes.

"Lymphoid hypothesis". A new version of the immune theory of aging is based on the idea of ​​aging as an age-related decrease in the intensity of self-renewal of the body and the loss of its resistance, on the undoubted connection of the immune system with aging and the duration of future life (Podkolzin, Dontsov, 1996). It is assumed that the cause of the early decline in immune functions is
the need to limit growth, and lymphocytes are credited with controlling the division processes of a wide variety of cell types, and therefore participating in key mechanisms for implementing the growth program. The weakening of this function of lymphocytes may also predetermine a decrease in the potential ability of cells to divide in old age. The morphological substrate of aging, according to the authors of the hypothesis, is the hypothalamus, which has a primary regulatory effect on the immune system.

As an argument, in particular, some
the results of transplantation of the regulatory nuclei of the hypothalamus into old animals, which allowed them to restore a number of private functions (sexual, immune and others) and achieve some indicators of general rejuvenation.

In conclusion, it can be noted that to date
A huge amount of fundamental data has been collected on the essence, characteristics and mechanisms of aging processes at different levels of biological organization. Although it has already been proposed about 300 hypotheses, an effective full-fledged theory of ontogenesis has not yet been created. There is no doubt that it will absorb much of what is contained in modern hypotheses. In any case, it is obvious that since human aging is determined by at least two groups of factors - genetic and environmental - there is no single universal cause of aging, but many partially interrelated and independent mechanisms, both programmed and random, that make up the complex phenomenon - aging.

Human life expectancy is a complex biomedical and socio-demographic problem. Like any other species, humans have their own characteristic species lifespan and corresponding genetic constitution, but they play a large role in determining
Environmental factors play a role in life expectancy in him, as in mammals in general, for example. It is believed that hereditary factors determine the species rate of aging and life expectancy, while environmental factors determine individual variations of these traits.

The level of species life expectancy is determined
in different ways, which mainly depends on methodological approaches. Even the 18th century French naturalist J. Buffon (1707–1788) believed that the biological life span of humans and other species is 6–7 times longer than their growth period. For a person, this would apparently be at least 96–108 years. Methods for determining the species are also proposed.
lifespan as a "biological limit": in this case it simply reduces to the maximum lifespan, which is not believed to have changed significantly over the foreseeable historical period, – perhaps starting from the Middle Paleolithic. But the potential for longevity could only be realized through the development of complex social and rational behavior. However, by definition, a species' lifespan should depend only on the genotype, while the longest lifespan, that is, the maximum age reached by some individuals, depends to a large extent on the conditions of existence. Attempts to consider aging as an integral process created by ontogenetic and accumulation mechanisms, which in turn are influenced by genetic and environmental factors, seem justified (Dilman, 1987). Considering the general causes and mechanisms of aging, V. N. Krutko et al. (1997) identify four general types of aging: insufficient flow of the system (“pollution” of the body); the insufficiency of selection to preserve only the necessary structures within a given system; insufficiency of self-copying of system elements (death of non-renewing elements of the body); deterioration of the function of regulatory systems.

Based on the classical ideas of A. Weismann
(Weissmann, 1889), P. Medawar (Medawar, 1952), G. Williams (Williams, 1957, 1966) on the role of natural selection associated with the accumulation of unfavorable mutations in the evolution of life span; over the course of a number of years, T. Kirkwood has been developing the evolutionary theory of aging , key point which he posits the disposable soma theory (Kirkwood, 1997, 2002). As T. V. L. Kirkwood (2002) emphasizes, based on evolutionary theories of aging, a number of predictions can be made regarding the role of genomic factors that may be
involved in the aging process:

1 The existence of specific aging genes is unlikely.

2 Genes of particular importance for aging and longevity are likely to regulate soma maintenance and expenditure.

3 There may be other genetically determined factors for the redistribution of the balance of resources (trade-offs) between the advantages of a young organism and its viability in old age.

4 There may be many mutations with long-term effects that contribute to the frailty phenotype.

It is clear that many genes determine the aging phenotype, and much effort will be needed to elucidate both their total number and their categories, and the contributions that are truly important for aging. The evolutionary genetics of aging has not yet received the recognition it deserves, but its importance will increase (Finch and Kirkwood, 2000; Partridge, 2001).

Despite the fact that human longevity is largely
caused by genetic factors, non-genetic factors such as diet and lifestyle also have a very great importance. Therefore, it is important not only to identify genes that are associated with human life expectancy and longevity, as well as the development of age-associated diseases, but also to identify the relationships between genes and environmental factors. Lifestyle and socio-economic factors greatly influence a person's longevity.

At the oldest ages, the exponential nature of mortality
slows down (Vaupel et al., 1998). Most likely explanation
This phenomenon is not that aging itself slows down, but
is that this slowdown reflects the heterogeneity of the population,
for example, weaker (frail) individuals die earlier
compared to stronger ones (robust). The intriguing fact is that
a decrease in mortality and even a “plateau effect” at the oldest ages observed not only in the human population, but even in some insect populations, raises a number of fundamental questions to which satisfactory answers have yet to be found (Vaupel et al., 1998; Kirkwood, 2002) . An interesting concept is bioeschatology, the subject of which is the search for molecular genetic mechanisms that determine
on the one hand, the process of aging and death of individuals, and on the other hand
the other is the extinction of species (Akifiev, Potapenko, 1997). Studying
features of radiation-induced shortening of lifespan in Drosophila, the authors found that aging occurs in a latent form almost throughout the life of adult flies, but its implementation in the death of the organism takes place after a certain time interval. In addition, disruptions in the functioning of tissue-specific genes of nerve cells serve as a signal for the final phase of aging.

A. M. Olovnikov (2000) put forward a new theory of regulation
functions of the genome (“fountain theory”), which is based on
ideas about the regulatory role of ion channels internal
membranes of the cell nucleus. Disturbances in their function can lead to the accumulation of damage in chromosomes and a number of epigenetic effects, such as gene position and transvection, which can
play a role in the aging of the body. The author believes that, according to its primary mechanism, biological aging is a “disease
quantitative characteristics".

Gerontology is the science of old age, of aging, of old people, and therefore of life expectancy, health and illness, and a lifestyle that ensures longevity. Gerontology is the science of life, about one of its stages, about how to make it happy. About when old age begins and when you need to start preparing for it.
But let’s not rush, let’s take an interest in when this science arose and how it developed. Some consider gerontology to be the oldest science, linking its birth with the names of the founders of medicine, Hippocrates and Ibn Sina, and the philosophers Cicero and Seneca, who lived long before our era. Other authors argue that it took organizational form and dates back to the second half of our century and the initiators were the US Air Force, which issued an order to science to find ways to extend the active life of pilots, whose training is very expensive and extending the service life of flight personnel would provide enormous savings. It was then that the first research institute was created. Be that as it may, both are right.
We can say that gerontology is the same age as culture. At all times of human history, it has absorbed new knowledge created by specialists from various fields: doctors and physiologists, philosophers and biologists, psychologists and sociologists, geographers and ethnographers. And this is not a complete list of the figures who worked on its creation; demographers, lawyers, historians, as well as scientists of more subtle and younger branches of knowledge: biochemists, biophysicists, psychoanalysts, psychophysiologists should also be included here. Gerontology is a complex science that develops on the basis of interdisciplinary research.
Much of what was brought was lost and covered with the dust of centuries. Some things, for example, the instructions of the founders of medical science, are still true today. Ibn Sina (980-1027) taught:
“Whoever is old sees illness everywhere:
The lower back quickly loses strength.
The stomach is weak and, in order not to suffer,
Food should not weigh it down.
Moderation in everything, peace in the soul, -
This regimen is useful for old people...
In one's declining years it is wisest
Skillfully maintain nature...
Remember: what is useful for young people,
That can be fatal in old age.”
In “The Poem on Medicine,” the great thinker, doctor and poet Ibn Sina (Latinized as Avicenna) bequeaths to his students:
“Treat the disease while it is outside,
If you push him inside, the patient will get worse...
Medicines are destroyed gradually:
Beware of medications, feed well...
And I repeat again: treat the causes -
This is the main principle of our medicine.”
Two thousand years ago, the Roman Marcus Tulius Cicero outlined the benefits of old age in a philosophical treatise on old age. Cicero called the interests of the mind and the dignity of character the best weapons against old age. A person who sharpens such a weapon all his life reaps a wonderful harvest in old age. He obtains permanent values ​​for himself, for the rest of his life, he is warmed by the consciousness of an interesting life lived and the memory of good deeds.
Cicero rejects four main accusations against old age: first, that it hinders activity; second, as if it weakens the body; third, it supposedly deprives a person of almost all pleasures; fourth, that it brings a person closer to death.
1. Does old age distract people from their work? From which ones? From those who lead youth, full of strength? Aren't there things for old people who are weak in body, but strong in spirit?
Great things are accomplished not by muscle strength, not by agility and not by dexterity of the body. Wisdom, authority, sound, meaningful decisions - these qualities not only do not disappear over the years, but become increasingly stronger. If these qualities were not characteristic of old people, then the Romans would not have called their highest state council “senate” (from Latin words"old", "elder").
In Sparta (Lacedaemon) the highest masters were called “old”, regardless of age. The greatest states more often collapse due to the fault of the young, not the old. They say that memory weakens in old age. This only happens if a person does not exercise his memory or is stupid from birth. How many famous people continued to study and create into old age!
2. Weakness. It is most often a legacy of youth. Dissolute and unrestrained youth passes on an already exhausted body to old age. A virtuous and reasonable old man always has enough strength. The young man wants to live long, but the old man has already lived long. Moreover, young age is much more fraught with the danger of death: young people get sick more easily, get sick more seriously, they are more difficult to treat, so few live to a ripe old age.
But the death of a young man is violence against nature, and the death of an old man is like the fall of a ripe fruit. How unripe fruits You can only pick them from the trees by force, but the ripe and ripe ones fall off on their own, so the life of young people is taken away by violence, and from old people - by withering. (The unfortunate man, when writing his treatise, did not know that his life, the old man, would be taken by force. After the murder of Caesar, Cicero was actually the head of Republican Rome, but a year later the Caesarians took over and killed the sixty-three-year-old old man Cicero).
Certain desires are characteristic of childhood, youth, maturity and old age. With age they pass, changing into new ones corresponding to the new age, but when the old man gives up his desires, there will be no other new ones, which means the time has come to die. One must leave life as if from a hotel, and not as from one’s own home; nature gave us life as a temporary dwelling, not a permanent one.
This is a brief retelling of the treatise. The great ones are immortal because their thoughts do not lose their wisdom even after thousands of years. A measured way of life, a philosophical attitude towards its hardships and towards old age itself and even death, physical and mental exercises, creative activity and good spirits. Are these instructions outdated and not useful for our elderly contemporaries?

Tens of thousands of people passed through, including well-known politicians, businessmen, writers, etc., including:
- American billionaire John Davidson Rockefeller (lived 98 years);
- English writer Somerset Maugham (lived 91 years);
- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (lived 91 years);
- German Chancellor Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (lived 91 years);
- Pope Pius XII before enthronement - Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (lived 82 years);
- French President Charles de Gaulle (lived 80 years);
- German writer Thomas Mann (lived 80 years);
The talented Swiss doctor and scientist Paul Niehans himself died in 1971, having lived 89 years.

Currently this theory and technique received rapid development. Stem cells are used not only for rejuvenation, and for reproductions individual organs of the body, for the purpose of their subsequent transplantation.
The science of old age, aging and extension life

In the process of the evolution of scientific knowledge, at the intersection of philosophy and medicine, an independent direction of science arose, studying the phenomena of aging of living organisms, including humans, which was called gerontology.
In Greek, gerontos means old man and logos means science. Thus, gerontology is the science of old age and aging.
This term was first introduced into scientific circulation by the great Russian biologist Ilya Mechnikov in the book “Studies on Human Nature,” published on French in 1903.

Scientific research about aging and life extension were carried out in Ancient China Taoists. In the oldest Chinese medical manuscript book, the Nei Jing, which dates back to the fourth millennium BC, several sections are directly devoted to discussions of aging.

The most famous and harmonious scientific and practical system of maintaining health and extension life was created by Indian yogis at the beginning of the first millennium BC.
The goal of one of the directions of this teaching - "Hatha Yoga" is to ensure the balance of all physiological processes in the human body, longevity and active activity until the end of life.
The development of health science on the European continent is associated with the names of the ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle (384 - 322 BC), Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 - 43 BC) and the Roman Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca (3 AD). .. - 65 AD).

Experts consider the first scientific treatises devoted to this topic to be the works of Aristotle “On the Long and Short Life”, “On Youth and Old Age”, and the works of Cicero “Cato the Elder on Old Age”, “Treatise on Old Age”, which he wrote in 63 years in a year to violent death.
And although these works are separated by centuries, they are united by the fact that they were directly devoted to the problems of aging. Both thinkers wrote about old age as a certain stage of life, capable of being as full-fledged and creatively fruitful as the previous ones.

The attitude of the ancient Greeks to the problem extension life was ambiguous. On the one hand, it was fatalistic. They believed that everything in the world is predetermined, and a person cannot influence the biological nature of the body. This philosophical concept was reflected in their numerous myths, where even the gods had no power over fate.
On the other hand, the ancient Greeks admitted the possibility of the existence of miraculous means that give a person immortality. For example, in some ancient Greek myths fire was considered such a means, which made human body immortal, burning out its mortal parts.
Around the same time as Taoism in China, gerocomia (or gerocomics) arose in Ancient Greece - a branch of gerontology associated with the possibility of achieving a healthy old age through moderation in everything. This doctrine became most widespread in Ancient Rome.
An important contribution to the development of gerocomy was made by the ancient Roman physician Claudius Galen, already mentioned by us. In his works he argued that old age not a disease, but a certain state of the body when a disorder occurs in it balance.
He suggested that it was old age that could be something like borderline state between a sick and a healthy organism. Even then, Galen emphasized that “to be old does not mean to be sick.”
Galen was the author of the doctrine of pneuma- a kind of ethereal substance, similar to heated air and being the carrier of mental life. The scientist distinguished between vital (physical) pneuma, located in the liver, and psychic pneuma, located in the brain and nerves.
In the Middle Ages, science made a sharp turn towards mysticism, and gerontological knowledge was also subject to these influences. As we have already noted, many scientific doctors tried to discover the secret of eternal youth with the help alchemy.
He condemned the alchemists and Avicenna. A significant part of his philosophical and scientific writings has survived, which were written in Arabic, some in Farsi. Among the works that had the greatest influence on scientific doctors of the East and Europe was " Book of Healing" (Kitab al-Shifa) and "Canon of Medical Medicine" .

In his works Avicenna spoke out against belief in astrological predictions of health and disease, against mystical recipes for longevity. His scientific medical recommendations for many centuries served as a guide for doctors, and some have retained their relevance to this day.

Modern science of life extension in Europe originated in the 18th century and was originally called macrobiotics. The founder of this science is considered to be the German physician-clinician, Doctor of Medicine H. Hufeland (1762 -1836).
His main work, “The Art of Prolonging Human Life” (1797), played important role in the formation of ideas about the factors influencing longevity.
In this book, H. Hufeland gave comprehensive recommendations on personal hygiene, work, rest, their alternation, diet, and the fight against excesses.
The book was a great success and was translated everywhere. European languages, including Russian and has gone through several editions. Macrobiotics reached its peak at the beginning of the last century.
Clinical observations became the basis of the doctrine of old age in Germany, England, and France in the 19th century. Geriatric centers "Salpêtrière" and "Bicêtre" are being created in Paris.

In England, gerontology has long been seen as a borderline discipline between general medicine and biology.

Much later, gerontology began to develop in the United States. The founder of American gerontology is considered to be the doctor I. Nasher, who considered old age as a disease against which medicine is powerless.
He proposed to call the science of diseases of the elderly and senile age geriatrics by analogy with pediatrics (the science of childhood diseases).

On his initiative and direct leadership, the first scientific society of geriatricians was created in New York in 1912. Two years later, the first textbook on this discipline was published for medical students and doctors.
In a short period of time, large clinics and centers have emerged in the United States, where problems of gerontology and geriatrics are widely studied. After the Second World War, the main role was given to fundamental research in the field of biology of aging and the study social problems old age.
Since the 30s of the last century, independent research problems have emerged in gerontology - human gerontology, animal gerontology, plant gerontology.
Later, molecular, biological, ecological and evolutionary gerontologies became distinct. Then there was a differentiation of research into aging processes into theoretical and applied, and science itself into theoretical and applied.

Development of gerontology in Russia

One of the first Russian scientists to conduct research in this area was Parfeny Engalychev. In 1833, his treatise on macrobiotics was published in Moscow - “On the extension of human life. How to achieve a healthy, cheerful and deep old age.”
The author argued that you can live a very long time and maintain excellent physical and mental health until the end of your days. mental health.
To do this, it is necessary to limit bad influence on the body of alcoholic beverages and tobacco, eat rationally, move more, get proper rest after work, etc. All this helps prevent diseases and ensures a healthy old age.
A certain contribution to gerontological research was made by Johann Fischer (1772-1865), who headed the Russian Ministry of Health in the mid-18th century.
It is little known that the outstanding Russian scientist D.I. Mendeleev dealt with the problems of aging, longevity and death. At the beginning of the century, his most interesting work, “Treasured Thoughts,” was published, which spoke about the need to study problems related to life expectancy and examined the social aspects of gerontology.
In particular, D.I. Mendeleev naively believed that “with an increase in the percentage of vigorous old people, humanity will have to improve, because such old people, wise by life experience, will have a beneficial influence on young people, no matter how conceited they become.”
The further development of gerontology in Russia in the 19th century and in the Soviet Union in the 20th century is associated, first of all, with the names of outstanding scientists - S.P. Botkin (1832-1889), I.I. Mechnikova (1845-1916), I.P. Pavlova (1849-1936), A.A. Bogomolets ( 1881-1946).
At the end of the 19th century a huge impact Russian medical science was influenced by the ideas of the famous doctor, scientist, clinician S.P. Botkin. Under his leadership, extensive observations of the physiology and pathology of old age were undertaken.
The results of the study gave grounds to distinguish between the concepts of normal and pathological aging. By pathological or premature aging he understood those cases when a person does not live up to his age specific limit. It was found that different people signs of aging appear and develop with different dynamics.

The Russian gerontological school received worldwide recognition after the famous research of I.I. Mechnikov, with which he confirmed the assumption of the existence of premature human aging. The scientist believed that “old age is a disease that needs to be treated,” and “death before 150 years is a violent death.”
His most famous works are “Studies on Human Nature” and “Studies of Optimism,” which provide a deep scientific analysis of old age and death. The scientist called for an optimistic understanding of life and death and proposed his own theory of longevity, which he called orthobiosis - correct image life.
The main elements of orthobiosis were: consumption fermented milk products that inhibit the activity of putrefactive bacteria, hygienic measures, and in the long term - changes in human nature and social order.
He wrote: “It is not enough to just invent methods of treatment; we need to take up the study of the general question of human fate: why a person grows steadily old and eventually dies, when the desire to live is still so great in him.”
Many ideas of I.I. Mechnikov about the prevention of aging and the fight for longevity have not lost their importance today.
The importance of I.P. Pavlov’s works in the study of age-related changes, problems of higher nervous activity, the adaptive capabilities of the body, etc. is invaluable.
A.A. Bogomolets is considered the founder of Soviet gerontology. In 1938, under his leadership, one of the world's first scientific conferences devoted to the problems of aging and longevity was held.

In the USSR in the 30-40s of the last century, problems of longevity were actively developed. The scientific community has put forward the thesis about the possibility of extending human life - up to 150 years or more.
In 1958, the Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics was created in Kyiv within the system of the Academy of Medical Sciences (USSR Academy of Medical Sciences). This institute was the first and became the leading gerontological center Soviet Union, wholly specialized in the study of fundamental problems of aging. During the same period, gerontological scientific schools in Leningrad, Kiev, Moscow, Tbilisi, etc. began to take shape.

In 1963, the All-Union Scientific and Medical Society of Gerontologists and Geriatricians was organized in the Soviet Union, which three years later became a member of the International Association of Gerontologists.
Among the priority directions for the development of gerontology in the USSR were experimental-biological, clinical-physiological and social-hygienic. The achievements of Soviet gerontologists were highly valued in the scientific community and received well-deserved recognition abroad.

Further development of these areas led to the emergence of a new branch of science - social gerontology, which outgrew the narrow framework academic research, acquired the status of an independent academic discipline. Her unspoken motto was: "Not only to add years to life, but to add life to years."
With the development of this scientific direction, the development of sociological, socio-psychological, economic, and ethical problems came to the fore. aging.

The most important characteristic modern gerontology is its complexity, developing on the basis of interdisciplinary research.
Over time, the science of aging has absorbed new knowledge created by scientists from various fields, primarily in physiology, biology, psychology and sociology, demography and ethnography, history and jurisprudence.
Relatively recently, gerontology has been enriched with the achievements of new sciences, such as biochemistry, genetics, biophysics, psychoanalysis, psychophysiology, etc.
Modern interest and intensive development of gerontology are associated with the successes of biology, which have made possible the discovery of a number of fundamental mechanisms of aging, the connection of major human diseases with age-related disorders, and the successful results of experiments on prolonging the life of various animal species.
Modern gerontology, on the one hand, includes the results and methods of other sciences in its theoretical and practical tools, and on the other hand, it is divided into separate branches of knowledge.
Modern gerontology studies the mechanisms and causes of aging of the body as a whole, as well as at the molecular and cellular levels.
Thus, a characteristic feature of the development of modern gerontology is the action of two differently directed trends - differentiation and integration of scientific knowledge. Science is developing in three main directions - experimental, clinical and social.
Components modern gerontology is geriatrics - the study of the characteristics of diseases of the senile body, gerohygiene - the study of the hygiene of people in older age groups, and gerontopsychology.
A new direction in modern gerontology has become valeology (valeo-I am healthy (Greek), logos-teaching) - a science, or philosophical and religious concept about health, a healthy lifestyle, about the body’s adequate response to the rapidly changing realities of life.
Valeology studies the level, potential and reserves of physical and mental health, as well as methods, means, technologies for preserving and promoting health.
The main task of valeology is to teach a person to take care of his health from an early age. People must understand that the art of prolonging life is the art of not shortening it.
A significant contribution to the promotion of a healthy lifestyle is made by doctors who have developed their own natural healing systems. The author of one of the most scientifically based and effective systems is a unique person, scientist, doctor Galina Sergeevna Shatalova.

Andrianov V.D. - Director of the Department of Strategic Analysis and Development of Vnesheconombank, professor at Moscow State University, Doctor of Economics, academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

One of the first among Russian scientists to engage in gerontological research was the prince, writer and translator Parfeny Nikolaevich Engalychev (1769–1828).

The scientist was a prominent representative of macrobiotics and argued that you can live a very long time and maintain excellent physical and mental health until the end of your days.

To do this, it is necessary to limit the harmful effects of alcoholic beverages and tobacco on the body, eat rationally, move more, get proper rest after work, etc. All this helps prevent diseases and ensures a healthy old age.

The scientist outlined his thoughts in the monograph “On the extension of human life. How to achieve a healthy, cheerful and deep old age,” which was published in Moscow in 1802.

A certain contribution to the beginning of gerontological research was made by the Russian scientist Johann Fischer (1772–1865), who headed in the mid-18th century. Ministry of Health of Russia.

The fruit of his research was the book “On Old Age, Its Degrees and Diseases,” in which the author draws attention to the importance of the influence of living conditions on the characteristics and mental state of a person.

It is little known that the outstanding Russian scientist D.I. Mendeleev also addressed the problems of aging, longevity and death. At the beginning of the century, his most interesting work, “Treasured Thoughts,” was published, which spoke about the need to study issues related to life expectancy and examined the social aspects of gerontology.

In particular, D.I. Mendeleev then naively believed that “with an increase in the percentage of vigorous old people, humanity will have to improve, because such old people, wise by the experience of life, will have a beneficial influence on young people, no matter how conceited they become.”

The idea is sound, but very utopian. Unfortunately, until now, although humanity lives much longer, health in many countries as a whole is not improving, and in some areas is deteriorating.

Further development of gerontology in Russia in the 19th century. and in the Soviet Union in the 20th century. This is connected, first of all, with the names of outstanding scientists - S.P. Botkin (1832–1889), I.I. Mechnikov (1845–1916), I.P. Pavlova (1849–1936), A.A. Bogomolets (1881–1946). V.V. Frolkis (1924–1999), V.M. Dilman (1925-1994), A.M. Olovnikova (born in 1936), V.P. Skulacheva and others.

At the end of the 19th century. The ideas of the famous doctor, scientist, clinician S.P. had a huge impact on Russian medical science. Botkin. Under his leadership, mass observations of the physiology and pathology of old age were organized and carried out.

The results of the study gave grounds to distinguish between the concepts of normal and pathological aging.

By pathological or premature old age, the scientist understood those cases when a person does not live up to his age specific limit.

It has been found that in different people the signs of aging appear and develop with different dynamics.

The Russian gerontological school received worldwide recognition after the famous research of I.I. Mechnikov, with which he confirmed the assumption of the existence of premature human aging.

The scientist believed that “old age is a disease that needs to be treated,” and “death before 150 years is a violent death.”

His most famous works are “Studies on Human Nature” and “Studies of Optimism,” which provide a deep scientific analysis of old age and death.

The scientist called for an optimistic understanding of life and death and proposed his own theory of longevity, which he called orthobiosis - the right way of life. The main elements of orthobiosis were:
consumption of fermented milk products that inhibit the activity of putrefactive bacteria;
hygiene measures;
in the future – a change in human nature and social structure.

He wrote: “It is not enough to engage in mere inventing methods of treatment; we need to take up the study of the general question of human destiny: why a person grows steadily old and eventually dies, when the desire to live is still so great in him.”

Many ideas of I.I. Mechnikov on the prevention of aging and the fight for longevity have not lost their relevance today.

The importance of the works of the great I.P. is invaluable. Pavlova in the study of age-related changes, problems of higher nervous activity, the adaptive capabilities of the body, etc.

The founder of Soviet gerontology is considered to be the already mentioned doctor A.A. Bogomolets. In 1938, under his leadership, one of the world's first scientific conferences devoted to the problems of aging and longevity was held.

In the USSR in the 30–40s of the last century, problems of longevity were actively developed. The scientific community has put forward a very ambitious thesis about the possibility of extending human life to 150 years or more.

In 1958, the Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics was created in Kyiv within the system of the Academy of Medical Sciences (USSR Academy of Medical Sciences).

This institute was the first and became the leading gerontological center in the Soviet Union, completely specializing in the study of fundamental problems of aging.

During the same period, gerontological scientific schools began to take shape - Leningrad, Kiev, Moscow, Tbilisi, etc.

In particular, one of the most prominent representatives of the Kyiv school was V.V. Frolkis (1924–1999) - a famous modern physiologist and gerontologist, vice-president of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.

His theory of somatic mutations is considered the most substantiated. The scientist considered changes in the genetic apparatus of the cell to be among the primary causes of aging.

V.V. Frolkis believed that somatic cells (cells of the body) can spontaneously undergo mutations that negatively affect its functioning.

The accumulation of such mutations leads to dysfunction of the body, aging and ultimately death.

At the Leningrad gerontological school, an endocrinologist, Professor V.M. stood out. Dilman (1925-1994).

The elevation theory of aging, which he developed and is associated with hormonal imbalances in the body, is rightfully considered one of the most striking and deeply developed concepts in gerontology.

In 1963, the All-Union Scientific and Medical Society of Gerontologists and Geriatricians was organized in the Soviet Union, which three years later became a member of the International Association of Gerontologists.

Among the priority areas of development of gerontology in the USSR were experimental-biological, clinical-physiological and social-hygienic.

The achievements of Soviet gerontologists were highly valued in the scientific community and received well-deserved recognition abroad.

Further development of these areas led to the emergence of a new branch of science - social gerontology, which outgrew the framework of narrow academic research and acquired the status of an independent academic discipline. Her unspoken motto was: “Not only add years to life, but also life to years.”

With the development of this scientific direction, the development of sociological, socio-psychological, economic, and ethical problems of aging came to the fore.

The most important characteristic of modern gerontology is its complexity, developing on the basis of interdisciplinary research.

Over time, the science of aging has absorbed new knowledge created by scientists from various fields. First of all, this applies to physiology, biology, psychology and sociology, demography and ethnography, history and jurisprudence.

Relatively recently, gerontology has been enriched with the achievements of new sciences, such as biochemistry, genetics, bioenergetics, biophysics, psychoanalysis, psychophysiology, etc.

Modern interest and intensive development of gerontology are associated with the successes of biology that have made real opening a number of fundamental mechanisms of aging.

The connections between major human diseases and age-related disorders have been determined. Successful results of experiments on life extension of various animal species have been obtained.

Modern gerontology, on the one hand, includes the results and methods of other sciences in its theoretical and practical tools, and on the other hand, it is divided into separate branches of knowledge.

Currently, gerontology studies the mechanisms and causes of aging as an organism as a whole, its individual organs and systems, as well as these processes at the molecular, cellular and genetic levels.

The components of modern gerontology are:
geriatrics - the study of the characteristics of diseases of the senile body;
gerohygiene - the doctrine of hygiene of people of older age groups;
gerontopsychology – studying the features of senile psychology.

Thus, a characteristic feature of the development of modern gerontology is the action of two differently directed trends - differentiation and integration of scientific knowledge.

Scientific research focuses on three main areas - experimental, clinical and social.

The scientific achievements of Russian and foreign gerantologists in this area are very significant.

This concerns wide range theoretical and practical scientific areas such as cellular physiology, biochemistry of protein and other compounds, evolutionary biology, physiology physical activity, anthropology, experimental psychology, ecology and comparative anatomy nervous system.