Prevention of pathological aging by comprehensive clinical, functional and biological assessment

Parallel with global trends in population aging, numerous check-up programs of anti-aging purposes have been developed and implemented. Healthy aging and active aging are goals of the United Nations Research Agenda on Aging for the 21th century. It is necessary to have a lifelong process optimizing opportunities for improving and preserving health, physical, social and mental wellness, independence, quality of life and activity. An anti-aging check-up should point out to the factors that lead to functional decline, shifting the outcome measurement to focus on those persons who are aging well, to improve wellness. This paper discusses the principal factors of pathological aging: nutrition, physical activity, hormones, inflammation, depression, ecology and social/behavioral factors. A model of assessment is proposed based on clinical, functional and biological parameters.