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Study explores secret to staying healthy in old age

The North East is to be the focus of the most detailed study ever undertaken into what keeps people healthy in their old age. The Newcastle 85+ Study is being conducted by a team at Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health and will try and identify the relevant biological, social and medical factors.The team is aiming to recruit 800 people who have their 85th birthday this year to take part in the study, which will look in-depth at the biological process of ageing. Previous studies have shown that genes account for about 25 per cent of the ageing process, but the remaining 75 per cent is believed to be due to factors such as nutrition, lifestyle and socioeconomic status. The study aims to determine whether this hypothesis is accurate.Senior Clinical Research Fellow, Dr Joanna Collerton said: “A striking feature of biological ageing is its marked variability between individuals, and the first step in this study will be to determine what is a healthy 85-year-old. Relatively little information is available about the health of people in this age group, so this project will enable us to study in detail what is happening to the health of the very old. This is important not only because people of 85 years and over make up the fastest growing sector of the population, but also for what it will tell us about the ageing process and the factors that affect it.“Dr Collerton, estimates that about 1,200 people in the Newcastle area will turn 85 this year. All of them will be invited to take part in the study by team of research nurses, led by research nurse manager, Karen Barrass.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .