Miettenen O S
Department of Theory of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Int J Epidemiol. 1991;20 Suppl 1:S2-7.
Epidemiology of ageing is a field distinct from that of gerontology. It is concerned with the occurrence of different rates of the fundamental biological process of ageing, relating the rates to their determinants. In principle, it holds very exciting prospects for the preservation of youthfulness and the prevention of illness. However, its development has hardly begun, and suitable measures of the stage of ageing in an individual are not even available. The feasibility of developing such measures is being questioned today, but the grounds of this are specious. Progress is also hindered by the field's association with geriatrics today. Reorientation and reorganization are needed to help the epidemiology of ageing to get underway and to bear fruit.
衰老流行病学是一个与老年学不同的领域。它关注衰老这一基本生物学过程不同速率的发生情况，并将这些速率与其决定因素联系起来。原则上，它在保持青春和预防疾病方面有着非常令人兴奋的前景。然而，它的发展几乎尚未开始，甚至还没有适用于个体衰老阶段的测量方法。如今，开发此类测量方法的可行性受到质疑，但其依据似是而非。该领域目前与老年医学的关联也阻碍了其发展。需要重新定位和重组，以帮助衰老流行病学起步并取得成果。
