Interaction of medical, biologic, and behavioral factors on aging, adaptation, and survival. An 11 year longitudinal study

The effects of aging have been somewhat separated from the effects of disease in this 11 yr study of 47 initially healthy aged men. Related to normal aging and not to disease are the decreases in serum albumin, peak occipital frequency, and cerebral metabolic utilization of glucose. Healthy elderly men also experience significant environmental losses. Their mental function is superior to that of younger men with respect to verbal abilities and inferior with respect to psychomotor tests. New, clinically useful parameters of health were found. In particular, the simple, rapid rating of complexity and variability of daily behavior was shown to significantly relate to survival and mortality. A number of findings in this study have implications for clinical and preventive medicine.