Disuse and aging, 2009.
BACKGROUND
Knowledge of the basic processes determinative of the life courses of older persons has progressed dramatically in the past few years. This article is an update of a similar survey performed 27 years ago.


METHODS
A literature review of recent contributions gathered from a variety of disciplines seeks a more sturdy and consistent heuristic from which derivative work may proceed.


RESULTS
Publications from basic and clinical sciences as well as related nonmedical fields reveal a new conceptual framework for the understanding of human aging, which suggests a broader framework of contributing agencies and their policy implications.


CONCLUSIONS
Aging is not a disease and therefore demands a different lens for analysis. This article provides a deeper focus and insists on the inclusion of a heightened sense of the participation of time. Incorporation of the imperatives applied by the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the foundation of the new definitions.
Bortz
Walter
W
Stanford University School of Medicine, 167 Bolivar Lane, Portola Valley, CA 94028, USA. drwbortz@aol.com
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D020966:Muscular Disorders, Atrophic; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology