Study on aging to be designed to provide more effective treatment and programs for aging population

Ottawa, ON May 6, 2003 Funding of C$400,000 for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, which will provide knowledge about the aging process, which hin turn will be used to develop improved treatments and prevention methods for illnesses associated with aging.

The funding was announced today by Sharon Carstairs, leader of the government in the senate and minister with special responsibility for palliative care, along with Dr Rjean Hbert, scientific director of the CIHR institute of aging, announced today.

The first step in the process will be to develop a research protocol. The protocol’s design will be led by Dr Susan Kirkland (Dalhousie University), Dr Parminder Raina (McMaster University), and Dr Christina Wolfson (McGill University). The team was chosen through CIHR’s peer review process. The protocol will take 18 months to develop and outline how the study will be conducted. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Health Canada are providing the funding required for the development of the protocol.

“The longitudinal study will follow thousands of Canadians over an approximate 20-year period,” says Dr Hebert. “The determinants of healthy aging, as well as the causes and evolution of the most prominent diseases associated with aging such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and dementia will be explored. Carrying out this study will accelerate Canada as an international leader in aging research.”

CIHR’s Institute of Aging supports research to promote healthy aging and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems and palliation for a wide range of conditions associated with aging.