PHYSIOLOGICAL AGE-RELATED-CHANGES - CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL-STUDIES

Physiological age-related changes were investigated by cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The data of the study were derived from vol unteers admitted to the Gerontology Center in Budapest. In the follow- up study 864 subjects took part, and in the cross-sectional study 2,28 1 individuals. The 20-year longitudinal study and the cross-sectional examination showed that from a clinical standpoint the most important observation is that several biochemical data do not change with age. N o changes were found in the values in erythrocyte sedimentation, hemog lobin, hematocrit, serum total protein, albumin, liver function, gluco se, creatinine, triglyceride, and HDL-cholesterol levels. Changes were observed in the levels of HDL-cholesterol, immunoglobulins, rheumatoi d factors, antinuclear factors, morphology of lymphocytes, serum TSH a nd T3 concentration, and systolic blood pressures.