The developed world’s success in extending individual life expectancies  has allowed people to grow old enough to need a second volley of vaccines against infectious diseases. Older bodies’ natural defense systems tend to lose some of their punch, and vaccines can ward off — or at least weaken the severity of — a few diseases capable of inflicting extreme discomfort or worse among otherwise robust seniors.

Not that it’s always easy to convince them this is the case. But Peter Pompei, MD, associate professor of medicine at Stanford, is working on it.

Tagged: longevity, vaccines, Human Health, Medicine

Most of what you read about the impact of aging on memory centers on a rather ugly word: decline.  But a growing body of evidence casts the aging of the human brain in a different light. And for anyone planning on growing old, it’s great news.

Tagged: happiness, longevity, Human Health, Humanities & Sciences

The theory that aging is caused by unavoidable wear and tear has dominated aging research. Stanford researchers have found evidence for an alternative theory that could lead to a new way to think about how to slow the aging process.

Tagged: aging, longevity, Human Health, Medicine

At the turn of the 20th century, Americans’ life expectancy at birth was 47. A century later, 30 years had been added. The Center on Longevity, led by Professor Laura Carstensen, wants to help society capitalize on these longer life spans. To that end, faculty from all seven Stanford schools will participate in the center’s work.

Tagged: aging, economics, longevity, Human Health, Business, Engineering, Humanities & Sciences, Medicine