Gerontology

Gerontology (from other Greek: γέρων “old man” + λόγος “knowledge, word, doctrine”) is a science that studies the biological, social and psychological aspects of a person’s aging , its causes and ways to deal with it ( rejuvenation ). Arose about a century ago. The components of gerontology are geriatrics - the doctrine of diseases associated with involutional changes, as well as the features of treatment and prevention of diseases in the elderly and senile age, gerohygiene, which studies the general and special hygiene of people of older age groups, and gerontopsychology, which studies psychological and behavioral features of people of elderly and old age ^[1] .

Content

History

A significant contribution to the formation and development of this science was made by I. I. Mechnikov , N. M. Amosov . V. M. Dilman also contributed to the understanding of the age processes of development and causes of aging. Academician V.V. Frolkis advanced an adaptation-regulatory theory of age development (with the gene-regulatory hypothesis of aging). According to him, the primary mechanisms of aging are associated with changes in the regulation of gene activity, regulation of their expression and repression. He also put forward the theory of vitaukta - in the course of evolution, along with the processes of aging, there are mechanisms for actively counteracting them - the processes of vitaukt (anti-aging). VV Frolkis also proposed several hypotheses and concepts: the concept of etagenesis to describe the life cycle of the organism as a whole (from zygotes to death); the hypothesis about inverters (intracellular regulators of plasma membranes ) - the assumption of the existence of intracellular regulators of the state of plasma membranes, which are synthesized in the nucleus, the synthesis of inverters decreases with age, which causes changes in the excitability of cells, their sensitivity to the action of hormones; concept of stress-age syndrome , postulated based on the similarity of numerous physiological, biochemical, and structural manifestations of aging and stress .

The first urban scientific society of gerontologists and geriatricians in the USSR was established in Leningrad in 1957

Social gerontology

Steps of a person's life, 16th century.

This is a social discipline, a section of gerontology, designed to solve the demographic , social and economic problems of aging ^[1] . The term “social gerontology” was introduced by E. Stiglitz (1940). Officially entrenched in 1960 .

There are four areas of social gerontology as a science:

The study of the influence of old age on the individual, to change the values, needs of a person, his behavior and lifestyle in old age.
The study of the position of an elderly person in a group, the interaction in the family, the team, with friends, and the study of the specifics of groups consisting of elderly people.
The study of the elderly in society as a whole. The elderly are considered as a certain demographic community and it (community) affects social processes and is itself influenced by social processes.
The study of the influence of various medicines on certain functions of the body in different age groups, which allows prescription of drugs to older people based on a number of important factors.

Famous gerontologists and scientific writers

See Category: Gerontologists

Notes

↑ ¹ ^{2 The} Great Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 tons.] / Ch. ed. Yu. S. Osipov . - M .: The Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004—2017.

Literature

Aubrey de Gray - “ Canceling Aging ” on the website of the Institute of Aging Biology.
"Domestic notes." No. 3 (24) (2005) . Old age as a social phenomenon, the institution of old age in Russia.
Amosov N. M. , Overcoming old age, - “Be healthy”, Moscow, 1996, 190 p. [1] .
Dilman V. M. , Why death occurs, - “Medicine”, Leningrad, 1972
Mechnikov I. I. , Sketches of optimism, Paris, 1907, [2]
Surnina O.E. Gerontology (biomedical and psychological aspects) [Text]: studies. allowance / Ekaterinburg: Publishing house FSAEI of HPE "Ross.gos. prof. ped. University", 2009. 234 p. ISBN 978-5-8050-0350-0
Anisimov V.N. - The Evolution of Concepts in Gerontology , Eskulap, 1999. - 130 p. ISBN 5-89223-011-2
Angles F. G. - Man a little century , Publishing House "Science", 2002. - 91 p. ISBN 5-02-026165-3

Links

[БРЭ-1] ¹ ^{2 The} Great Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 tons.] / Ch. ed. Yu. S. Osipov . - M .: The Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2004—2017.