Lamberts S W, van den Beld A W, van der Lely A J
Department of Medicine, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Science. 1997 Oct 17;278(5337):419-24. doi: 10.1126/science.278.5337.419.
Most aging individuals die from atherosclerosis, cancer, or dementia; but in the oldest old, loss of muscle strength resulting in frailty is the limiting factor for an individual's chances of living an independent life until death. Three hormonal systems show decreasing circulating hormone concentrations during normal aging: (i) estrogen (in menopause) and testosterone (in andropause), (ii) dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulphate (in adrenopause), and (iii) the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I axis (in somatopause). Physical changes during aging have been considered physiologic, but there is evidence that some of these changes are related to this decline in hormonal activity. Hormone replacement strategies have been developed, but many of their aspects remain controversial, and increasing blood hormone levels in aging individuals to those found during mid-adult life has not been uniformly proven to be safe and of benefit.
大多数老年人死于动脉粥样硬化、癌症或痴呆症；但在最年长的老年人中，肌肉力量丧失导致身体虚弱是限制个体独立生活直至死亡几率的因素。在正常衰老过程中，有三个激素系统的循环激素浓度会下降：（i）雌激素（在更年期）和睾酮（在男性更年期），（ii）脱氢表雄酮及其硫酸盐（在肾上腺功能减退期），以及（iii）生长激素/胰岛素样生长因子I轴（在生长停滞期）。衰老过程中的身体变化一直被认为是生理性的，但有证据表明其中一些变化与激素活性的这种下降有关。已经制定了激素替代策略，但其许多方面仍存在争议，而且将老年人的血液激素水平提高到成年中期的水平尚未被一致证明是安全且有益的。
