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LAWRENCE -- Six University of Kansas researchers have contributed original, signed articles on topics including language comprehension, retirement transition and funeral practices in the first standard reference on aging for both the general public and academic researchers.
Macmillan Reference USA chose Gerontology Center researcher and sociology professor David Ekerdt as editor-in-chief for the Encyclopedia of Aging, a four-volume set released this fall. The encyclopedia also is available as an e-book.
Ekerdt said, "The publisher expects that this will be in most community and university libraries since it is a really comprehensive, multidisciplinary overview of aging by some of the top people in the field -- from ethicists to engineers."
With a distinguished panel of associate editors, Ekerdt wrestled the subject of aging into 415 A-to-Z topics beginning with Accelerated Aging in Animal Models and ending with Yeast.
Yeast? "Yeast, being an organism that only lives a few days, allows researchers to observe its life span and biological aging process," Ekerdt explained.
Among those selected by the associate editors for being tops in their fields were: KU Gerontology Center researchers Susan Kemper and Virgil Adams, who wrote about language comprehension and cultural diversity, respectively; and KU Medical Center researchers Sarah Forbes (nursing), Susan Jackson (hearing and speech) and Mercedes Bern-Klug (Center on Aging), who contributed articles about palliative care, speech, and funeral and memorial practices. Ekerdt wrote the preface and an article on retirement transition.
The Encyclopedia of Aging answers questions such as:
• Who was the longest-lived human being? Frenchwoman Madame Jeanne Louise Calment, whose validated life span was 122 years and 165 days and who rode a bike until age 100.
• What is one of the most effective life-extension strategies? For rodents, at least, caloric restriction to about 60 percent of a normal diet seems to extend life and vitality.
• How much do genes affect longevity? The best current estimates are that genetic effects account for only about 20 percent of longevity.
The Gerontology Center is one of the 12 centers and more than 140 programs of KU's Schiefelbusch Institute for Life Span Studies that serve both rural and urban Kansans through research-based solutions to the problems of human and community development, disabilities and aging.
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