Contemporary research on ageing and senescence tends to cluster in three domains. One focus is genes and genetic theories of ageing, work that is most closely associated with the ideas of George Williams, Thomas Kirkwood and Michael Rose. A second deals primarily with ageing effects on cells; currently, there is much emphasis on oxidative effects in ageing. A third group of studies is centred on body physiology and the nature of increasing organ dysfunction during ageing; this work deals primarily with mammalian systems and emphasizes, in particular, the nature and kinds of endocrine dysfunction that take place during ageing. From January 30ยฑ February 1st, a Novartis Symposium convened in London to consider recent ideas and discoveries in this last area. Its title was ``Endocrine facets of ageing in the human and experimental animal.'' What follows is a brief account of some of the highlights.
The introductory remarks were given by the chairman, J. D. Veldhuis (University of Virginia). He pointed out that the field needed to identify both the common features of ageing in different endocrine systems as well as differences between those systems (``axes''). He also noted the importance of identifying how and where the so called somatotrophic and gonadotrophic endocrine systems, often treated as completely distinct in different studies, intersect.
In several of the following talks, the speakers stressed the importance of discriminating between the normal changes in endocrine function that accompany ageing and the distinctly pathological conditions that can develop. In the first talk, A. van den Beld (University Hospital, Rotterdam) discussed the former. She described a study carried out by her and her colleagues on ``healthy ageing'' in elderly men. The work identified gradual losses in muscle tone and in bone mineral density (BMD) in such men with ageing, the latter partially correctable by treatment with low testosterone. None of the hormone therapies, including the much-touted DHEA, however, can be regarded as a panacea for any of the ageing defects detected.