WASHINGTON – Despite years of research and therapy advances, the keys to longevity remain elusive. While people are living longer today, many questions remain about the role of genetics, caloric restriction, stress reduction, social engagement, environmental changes, and other factors found among many of the “oldest old.” In a presentation to the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists recent annual meeting, Dr. Marie Bernard, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), discussed emerging and sometimes surprising fi ndings from the latest research on aging. For one, obesity is increasing in the elderly. While weight loss traditionally has been health professionals’ major concern for frail seniors, data now indicate that obesity has grown 10% in the past 20 years among whites aged 65 and older and nearly 20% among elderly African Americans. More people are becoming obese as they age, and obese people are living longer, Dr. Bernard observed. “We’re successfully treating blood pressure, diabetes, and heart problems, and obese people are living longer. This suggests that [systems of care for elderly people] will have a real challenge as we move forward.” There will have to be an unprecedented emphasis on healthy diets and physical activity in the elderly population, she said. On the other hand, Dr. Bernard said that studies are leavening early excitement about caloric restriction potentially prolonging lives. Specifi cally, a recent 25-year study of rhesus monkeys showed that genetics and the composition of the animals’ diets contributed more to longevity than did a low-calorie diet per se. Dr. Bernard didn’t discount the potential advantages of calorie restriction in healthy adults. She pointed to the ongoing CALERIE (Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Eff ects of Reducing Intake of Energy) study, whose early results showed that people who reduced caloric intake by 25% for 6 months lowered their insulin resistance, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, body temperature, and oxidative damage to DNA. She noted that there is still much to learn about the impact of diet and calories on longevity. Dr. Bernard also updated her listeners on studies of telomeres, the chromosome end segments whose degradation has been tied to various aspects of physical decline. Researchers have found a link between living to 100 and inheriting a type of enzyme that rebuilds telomeres, she said. Other research has linked telomere decay and stress. “One could postulate that reducing stress can help retain telomeres” and contribute to healthy aging, she said. CfA