Genes Ethnicity And Ageing

This volume takes its subtitle from the theme of the ASHB meeting for 1994 ?Genes, Ethnicity and Ageing?. The first paper is the annual conference lecture as delivered by the Honourable Fred Chaney, formerly Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the Federal Government of Australia. It considers some of the difficulties in delivering government services to indigenous peoples. Jim Chisholm puts an evolutionary perspective on some aspects of human behaviour, life history and Darwinian approaches to medicine. Carol Bower reviews the value of the Western Australian Birth Defects Registry and the contributions of registries to improved health care. Alexandra Brewis and Gokarna Regmi document determinants of fertility in a Pacific Island population. There are two papers from a special symposium on Ageing and the Aged held within the meeting: George Broe and Helen Creasey consider some of the social issues associated with an ageing society, and Alan Hipkiss and colleagues take a biochemist's look at possibilities for extending the human life cycle.There are two additional papers. One by Alan Bittles documents consanguinity in the Middle East. The second, by Tsunehiko Hanihara and Hajime Ishida describes the results of their studies of Australian Aboriginals and neighbouring populations.?Understanding Ageing?, by Robin Holliday, Cambridge University Press is reviewed by Anne Mitchell.

This volume takes its subtitle from the theme of the ASHB meeting for 1994 “Genes, Ethnicity and Ageing”. The first paper is the annual conference lecture as delivered by the Honourable Fred Chaney, formerly Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the Federal Government of Australia. It considers some of the difficulties in delivering government services to indigenous peoples. Jim Chisholm puts an evolutionary perspective on some aspects of human behaviour, life history and Darwinian approaches to medicine. Carol Bower reviews the value of the Western Australian Birth Defects Registry and the contributions of registries to improved health care. Alexandra Brewis and Gokarna Regmi document determinants of fertility in a Pacific Island population. There are two papers from a special symposium on Ageing and the Aged held within the meeting: George Broe and Helen Creasey consider some of the social issues associated with an ageing society, and Alan Hipkiss and colleagues take a biochemist's look at possibilities for extending the human life cycle. There are two additional papers. One by Alan Bittles documents consanguinity in the Middle East. The second, by Tsunehiko Hanihara and Hajime Ishida describes the results of their studies of Australian Aboriginals and neighbouring populations. “Understanding Ageing”, by Robin Holliday, Cambridge University Press is reviewed by Anne Mitchell. Contents:Aboriginal Survival Across Incompatible Domains (F Chaney)Life History Theory and Life Style Choice: Implications for Darwinian Medicine (J S Chisholm)The Value of a Birth Defects Registry: The Western Australian Experience (C Bower)Post Partum Amenorrhoea Differentials and Patterning in a Rural Pacific Island Population (A A Brewis & G Regmi)Brain Ageing and Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Major Public Health Issue of the Twenty-First Century (G A Broe & H Creasey)Strategies for Extension of Human Life Span (A R Hipkiss et al.)When Cousins Marry: A Review of Consanguinity in the Middle East (A H Bittles)Evolutionary Significance of Facial Flatness in Australian Aborigines and Neighbouring Populations (T Hanihara & H Ishida) Readership: Human biologists, health scientists, anthropologists, academics and graduate students (in human biology) and high school teachers. keywords:Human Biology;Genetics;Ethnicity;Ageing;Geriatrics“… the papers in this volume are well-written and represent good science … If these papers are an example of the quality and breadth of publications to be included in future volumes of this publication, it should be successful.”Douglas Crews Ohio State University

From an evolutionary perspective, individuals have a vi- tal interest in the reproduction of their genes. Yet this interest is overlooked by social and political theory at a time when we need to steer an adaptive course through the unnatural modern world of uneven population growth and decline, global mobility, and loss of family and communal ties. In modern Darwinian theory, bearing children is only one way to reproduce. Since we share genes with our families, ethnic groups, and the species as a whole, ethnocentrism and humanism can be adaptive. They can also be hazardous when taken to extremes. On Genetic Interests canvasses strategies and ethics for conserving our genetic interests in an environmentally sustainable manner sensitive to the interests of others.

Aging and Ethnicity: Toward an Interface provides a framework for comparison in aging and ethnicity. This book examines the ethnic factor and its importance for the study of the elderly. Organized into five chapters, this book begins with an overview of the general demographic characteristics underlying the social structure of the ethnic elderly. This text then explores the extent to which elements of assimilation and modernization affect the lives of Canada's ethnic elderly. Other chapters consider the existing social policies as they pertain to ethnic groups and present a research agenda to guide basic and evaluation research. This book discusses as well the role of primary group relations for maintaining ethnic identity and for preventing loss of status within the family. The final chapter deals with methodological issues to be considered when studying the ethnic elderly. This book is a valuable resource for sociologists, ethnic assimilationists, medical specialists, and gerontologists.

Essays explore a range of topics that include drug development and the production of race-based therapeutics, the ways in which genetics could contribute to future health disparities, the social implications of ancestry mapping, and the impact of emerging race and genetics research on public policy and the media.

Recent studies have indicated that epigenetic processes may play a major role in both cellular and organismal aging. These epigenetic processes include not only DNA methylation and histone modifications, but also extend to many other epigenetic mediators such as the polycomb group proteins, chromosomal position effects, and noncoding RNA. The topics of this book range from fundamental changes in DNA methylation in aging to the most recent research on intervention into epigenetic modifications to modulate the aging process. The major topics of epigenetics and aging covered in this book are: 1) DNA methylation and histone modifications in aging; 2) Other epigenetic processes and aging; 3) Impact of epigenetics on aging; 4) Epigenetics of age-related diseases; 5) Epigenetic interventions and aging: and 6) Future directions in epigenetic aging research. The most studied of epigenetic processes, DNA methylation, has been associated with cellular aging and aging of organisms for many years. It is now apparent that both global and gene-specific alterations occur not only in DNA methylation during aging, but also in several histone alterations. Many epigenetic alterations can have an impact on aging processes such as stem cell aging, control of telomerase, modifications of telomeres, and epigenetic drift can impact the aging process as evident in the recent studies of aging monozygotic twins. Numerous age-related diseases are affected by epigenetic mechanisms. For example, recent studies have shown that DNA methylation is altered in Alzheimer’s disease and autoimmunity. Other prevalent diseases that have been associated with age-related epigenetic changes include cancer and diabetes. Paternal age and epigenetic changes appear to have an effect on schizophrenia and epigenetic silencing has been associated with several of the progeroid syndromes of premature aging. Moreover, the impact of dietary or drug intervention into epigenetic processes as they affect normal aging or age-related diseases is becoming increasingly feasible.

In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good-or equally poor-health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life.

As the population of older Americans grows, it is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Differences in health by racial and ethnic status could be increasingly consequential for health policy and programs. Such differences are not simply a matter of education or ability to pay for health care. For instance, Asian Americans and Hispanics appear to be in better health, on a number of indicators, than White Americans, despite, on average, lower socioeconomic status. The reasons are complex, including possible roles for such factors as selective migration, risk behaviors, exposure to various stressors, patient attitudes, and geographic variation in health care. This volume, produced by a multidisciplinary panel, considers such possible explanations for racial and ethnic health differentials within an integrated framework. It provides a concise summary of available research and lays out a research agenda to address the many uncertainties in current knowledge. It recommends, for instance, looking at health differentials across the life course and deciphering the links between factors presumably producing differentials and biopsychosocial mechanisms that lead to impaired health.