Exam 2: Why Do Our Bodies Grow Old

There is increasing evidence of social inequalities in longevity and the potential for experiencing a healthy old age. Discuss the factors that are important to consider in the compression-of-morbidity discussion.

The time-dependent biological process that involves functional loss and susceptibility to disease and death is called ______.

Which of the following are considered to be "wear-and-tear" theories of aging?

Mor suggests that the compression of morbidity may turn out to be a cohort effect and not a lasting improvement in the functioning of older adults. What does Mor base his argument on? Do you agree or disagree with his thinking?

A challenge in determining the need for care in the older population is that population surveys on health in later life measure health status in multiple ways.

In your opinion, how much emphasis should be placed on promoting health versus curing diseases in old age? Explain.

Over the 20th century, both life expectancy and life span increased.

Explanations for the improvement in functioning of current cohorts of older persons include ______.

According to de Grey, the therapies being developed by the SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) project to prevent and cure aging will be available for mice in ______ years and for humans in ______ years.

According to Hayflick, scientists have made significant progress during the last century in uncovering the fundamental cause of aging.

Olshansky concedes that the science of aging has significantly advanced in recent decades such that gerontology is close to discovering the key to physical immortality.

Parker and Thorslund suggest that trends in compression of morbidity are more complex than initially thought-the general trend seems to be that older sectors of the population report more diseases and health problems, at the same time that their functional ability is maintained for longer periods. How do the authors explain this trend? Do you think this trend will continue into the 21st century?

de Grey considers biophysical aging to be a disease that should be cured.

The Hayflick Limit refers to which of the following processes?

According to de Grey, even though it may be possible for people to live to be 1,000 years of age, none of the added life span will be lived in frailty, debility, or dependence.

Like other biomedical goals, discovering the processes that cause aging or determine our life span would have a strictly positive value.

According to Fries and Crapo, all of the following are true except ______.

Although cultural stereotypes suggest that women are more biologically fragile than men, the Gompertz law indicates that women and men are equally likely to die.

The maximum life span for a species is unalterable.

Premature deaths resulting from violence will comprise a smaller proportion of total premature deaths, according to Hayflick.