Baldwin J G
Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.
Arch Intern Med. 1988 Dec;148(12):2544-6.
Very little information is available on the effect of aging on human bone marrow function. In reviewing both murine and human studies on bone marrow function in the elderly, it may be concluded at present that there is an increasing incidence of anemia that develops with aging in humans. Extensive animal and limited human data support decreased marrow reserve capacity with decreased hormonal responsiveness to hematologic stress as the most likely cause. In normal human life spans, marrow stem cells do not appear to wear out, and, finally, clinicians are cautioned not to attribute anemia per se simply to aging. Any elderly individual with unexplained anemia must be fully evaluated for the possibility of occult gastrointestinal blood loss, marrow failure syndrome, or hemolytic state before his/her anemia is attributed to age alone. Much additional research remains to be done on hematopoietic function in aged individuals.
关于衰老对人类骨髓功能的影响，目前所知甚少。在回顾关于老年人骨髓功能的小鼠和人类研究时，目前可以得出结论，人类中随着年龄增长贫血的发病率在增加。大量动物数据和有限的人类数据支持，骨髓储备能力下降以及对血液学应激的激素反应性降低是最可能的原因。在人类正常寿命范围内，骨髓干细胞似乎不会耗尽，最后，临床医生需注意，不要将贫血本身简单归因于衰老。任何患有不明原因贫血的老年人，在其贫血仅归因于年龄之前，必须对其进行全面评估，以排除隐匿性胃肠道失血、骨髓衰竭综合征或溶血状态的可能性。关于老年人造血功能仍有许多研究有待开展。
