title: [Significance of the determination of biological aging for medicine].
abstract: In the elaboration of methods of the determination of the biological age becomes evident that new approaches and models of thinking developed seem to require again to reason out the interdisciplinary position of gerontology. In the light of the results of clinical experimental examinations concerning the biological age which could be achieved by the traditional Leipzig gerontological school since Bürger's activities, the importance of biosocial norm values of age for multifarious theoretical and practical proceedings of medicine and their adjacent scientific fields is confirmed. Here the author sets out from the fact that it is possible nowadays to determine sufficiently and precisely the biological age of man by means of a multifactorial functional diagnostics. A phenotypical vitality measure, which takes into consideration the asynchronous biosocial dynamics of human ageing in the phase of development, maturity and involution, serves as criterion of the biological age. Thus there is the possibility to ascertain in all age-classes reference values ("normal values") for vitality and biological age which are obligatory according to sex. Here the gerontological research of the GDR may produce advances in international research. Furthermore the author elaborates the thoughts that in all phases of life the biological age represents a principal criterion of differentiation both in making the diagnosis by the physician and the judgment of the therapy ("revitalisation") and in the aptitude diagnostics for sports and regulation of training ("vitalisation"). From this aspect gerontology derives its specific importance as scientific theoretical link between medicine and sport sciences.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D005859:Germany, East; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity; D009026:Mortality; D012016:Reference Values; D012306:Risk; D012737:Sex Factors
vernacular_title: Zur Bedeutung der Bestimmung des biologischen Alters für die Medizin.