The multifarious biology of aging

Professor Dr Rudi Westendorp
University of Copenhagen

Aging is the strongest single risk factor of disease and mortality and can only be understood in the light of life history regulation. There is a tight, evolutionary shaped process of development that brings us up from conception to sexual maturity at which time physical functions are optimal and risk of disease and mortality minimal. Thereafter the process of aging kicks, the body accumulating permanent damage causing organ dysfunction, disease and ultimately death. The random nature of the process explains the huge heterogeneity between older people. There is an urgent need to unravel the multifarious biology of aging to implement personalised strategies to maintain health for longer.