Book Summary:
This is a Ph.D. dissertation. Ageing, the decline in survival and bodily functions, caused by damage to macromolecules and tissues is intrinsically linked to life. Although universal and unavoidable, ageing does not occur in a uniform way. In the general population, it is actually a continuously distributed phenotype, in which genetic as well as environmental factors play an interactive role and explain the large interindividual differences between biological and chronological age. Cardiovascular disorders, which find there origins in deterioration of the structure and function of the large arteries, explain a large part of morbidity and mortality in industrialized societies. In this doctoral dissertation, the focus was on telomere length and arterial stiffness as biomarkers of biological and arterial ageing, respectively. It was investigated to what extent genetic and environmental determinants of oxidative stress and inflammation impact on the ageing process. |