Aging, Immunity, and Infection

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With a growing world population of the aged in a state of immunological decline, there is an urgent need to develop new methods to delay or, better yet, prevent the loss of immune function. In Aging, Immunity, and Infection, the prominent immunogerontologists Joseph and Julia Albright, critically review the major features and functions of the immune system that are most likely, or known, to be significantly altered by aging, and offer insightful analyses of the consequences for those aging subjects who must cope with infection. Topics of special interest include the demographics and theories of immunosenescence, the gradual breakdown of resistance to infection in the aged, and the effects of aging on selected mechanisms of both innate and adaptive immunity to infections. The Albrights also suggest how advances may be made in understanding the basic biology of immunosenescence, newer methods of treatment and prevention, and offer an evaluation of such provocative ideas as nutritional intervention and lifespan extension in immunosenescence. Chapter summaries-along with lists of key research areas and recent advances-provide a framework for greater insight into major aspects of the problem and its emerging solutions. Informative and forward-looking, Aging, Immunity, and Infection offers geriatricians, infectious disease specialists, and immunologists a state-of-the-art understanding of the deleterious effects of aging on the immune system, even as it provides a basis for research on how best to strengthen immunity in the elderly and reduce their susceptibility to infectious diseases.