The Healthy Elderly Longevity Cohort

Launched by SCRIPPS TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE · Oct 28, 2009

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The Healthy Elderly Longevity Cohort study is focused on understanding how our genes and environment influence health, especially as we age. Researchers want to collect blood or saliva samples from older adults (aged 80 and above) to help explore how genetic factors can affect both health and disease. This research is particularly important because the population of older adults is rapidly growing, and understanding what keeps them healthy can help improve healthcare and reduce costs in the future.

To participate in this study, individuals must be 80 years or older and in generally good health, with only mild age-related medical issues like controlled high blood pressure or early-stage diabetes. Participants will be asked to provide samples for analysis, and they should be willing to follow the study's procedures. It’s a chance to contribute to important research that may benefit many people as they age.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Age 80 years or older
• • 2. Eligible for blood draw and/or saliva collection
• • 3. Be reliable, cooperative and willing to comply with all protocol-specified procedures
• • 4. Able to understand and grant informed consent
• 5. Be healthy or have mild medical conditions that may be associated with the normal aging process, including:
• • Hypertension, well controlled (no more than 3 medications)
• • Osteoporosis, Osteopenia and/or osteoarthritis
• • Benign prostatic hypertrophy
• • Cataracts, Glaucoma, Macular Degeneration
• • Dyslipidemia
• • Hypothyroidism
• • Pre-diabetes/impaired fasting glucose (fasting blood glucose 100-126 mg/dL, if known)
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. \< 80 years old
• • 2. Participants have been previously enrolled in The Scripps Genebank Healthy Elderly Cohort
• • 3. Treatment with any investigational agents or devices within thirty days preceding enrollment in the study.
• 4. Self-reported history or current diagnosis of significant chronic conditions including:
• • Any Cancer (including polycythemia; excluding basal or squamous cell skin cancer).
• • Coronary Artery Disease/Myocardial Infarction
• • Stroke/TIA
• • Deep Vein Thrombosis/Pulmonary Embolus
• • Chronic Renal Disease/Hemodialysis
• • Significant Auto-immune/Inflammatory conditions such as (Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Crohn's, etc.
• • Alzheimer's/Parkinson's
• • Diabetes (Hemoglobin A1C \> 6.5 % or fasting glucose \>126 mg/dL or treated with oral diabetic medication or insulin if known)
• • Aortic or Cerebral Aneurysm
• 5. Currently taking any of the following medications on a regular basis:
• • Oral chemotherapeutic agents (ex.: tamoxifen, doxorubicin, mitoxantrone, bleomycin)
• • Anti-platelet agents, not including aspirin (ex.: clopidogrel/plavix, dipyridamole/aggrenox/persantine, ticlopidine/ticlid)
• • Cholinesterase inhibitor for Alzheimer's disease (i.e. donepezil/Aricept)
• • Insulin
• • 6. Subject has a significant medical condition which, in the Investigator's opinion, may interfere with the patient's optimal participation in the study or would potentially confound interpretation of the individual's phenotype.