Speaker
Jan Vinita White
Session Details
Normal Aging - Lessons from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging [BLSA]
Aging Trends
Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Time: 11:15 am
Session Learning Objectives:
- Actionable: Participants will learn of practical terms some of the evidence for actions that may lead to healthy aging.
- Actionable: Participants will be able to tell share the findings of normal aging -vs- disease.
- Actionable: Participants will learn of general recommendations that provide a context and general ideas for them to consider and act on as they think about their own aging.
The BLSA is the longest ongoing research study in the world. Started in 1958 in the early days of gerontology, the researchers sought to find out, “what is normal aging?” That research question remains the center of the longitudinal research to define which changes are normal aging and which parts are related to disease. In order to study normal aging, researchers study healthy people who are aging to distinguish normal aging from disease. A number of disorders and conditions that typically occur in old age are a result of disease, not normal aging. Sharing the BLSA fndings may prevent or delay disease to age well, thus improving quality of life and retaining independence.