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This book reviews and discusses the most recent advances in the understanding of the endocrine facets of ageing, drawing together findings from both basic and clinical research. The questions addressed include the following: what are the relative magnitudes and time courses of different endocrine adaptations in the ageing human and experimental animal? How do external factors influence the rates of progression of endocrine sequelae of ageing? What mechanisms underlie the disarray of endocrine axes in ageing? And what are the implications of therapeutic reconstitution with hormones in ageing? By bringing together an international and interdisciplinary group of experts, the book reviews much new and exciting work in this area and serves to identify promising new research directions.

Table of Contents:

Chair's introduction 1
Endocrine aspects of healthy ageing in men 3
Ageing, stress and the brain 26
Alterations in the ageing corticotropic stress-response axis 46
Male reproductive ageing: human fertility, androgens and hormone dependent disease 66
Male reproductive ageing: using the Brown Norway rat as a model for man 82
Mechanisms of conjoint failure of the somatotropic and gonadal axes in ageing men 118
Effects of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 deficiency on ageing and longevity 125
The role of insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin in ageing and atherosclerosis 143
The ageing female reproductive axis I 161
The ageing female reproductive axis II: ovulatory changes with perimenopause 172
The thyroid axis in ageing 193
Critical illness as a model of hypothalamic ageing 205
Glucose tolerance, glucose utilization and insulin secretion in ageing 222
Endocrine causes of age-related bone loss and osteoporosis 247
Ageing and water homeostasis 265
Summing-up 279
Index of contributors 280
Subject index 282