Clinical Research | Institute of Gerontology

This group of IoG scientists studies the interplay between aging and disease.

Work in the area of aging related diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, congestive heart failure, and undernutrition in nursing home residents is being conducted by Drs. Blaum and Halter. Human aging is associated with a number of alterations of autonomic nervous system function including changes in rates of norepinephrine release and metabolism as well as alterations in catecholamine responsiveness of tissues. Ongoing studies in Dr. Halter's laboratory use tracer infusions of catecholamines to study the kinetics of their release and removal. Pharmacologic tools are being used to study regulation of norepinephrine release and removal in human aging and age-related diseases such as hypertension and depression. Dr. Supiano's research focuses on the interaction between sympathetic nervous system activity and adrenergic responsiveness in aging, and in two age-related diseases, hypertension and congestive heart failure. Dr. Blaum's work links disability transitions to the natural history of chronic diseases and evaluates the impact of these transitions on health services utilization. Related projects involve studying the impact of potential mediating characteristics, such as cognitive skill and depressed affect, on the disease-disability relationships.

Another area of research is the clinical features and pathophysiology of Alzheimer's diseases and related neurodegenerative disorders. Using positron emission tomography (PET), it has found that these age-related illnesses exhibit different patterns of selective neuronal vulnerability that correspond to symptoms that patients experience. In Alzheimer's disease, for example, there is a decline in cerebral glucose metabolism, particularly in the posterior temporoparietal cortex, with relative sparing of the primary and sensory cortex. This accounts for the development of profound memory, language and visuospatial deficits at a time when patients are without any physical disability.

Dr. Terpenning is involved in research on infectious diseases and infection control. One current project, the Geriatric Oral Science Project, concerns oral bacterial colonization, xerostomia, and the contribution of oral/dental problems to medical illnesses. Medical outcomes with links to dental disease include aspiration pneumonia and infective endocarditis.

Dr. Alexander is interested in why many older adults may have problems rising from a chair, a bed, or the floor, standing up straight, and clearing obstacles while walking. His work assesses performance of these tasks by a variety of methods, from simple movement timing to fully instrumented biomechanical studies. Another major focus is on how interventions work, such as the effect of strength training or of chair redesign on the ability to rise from the chair.