MINERAL HOMEOSTASIS IN ELDERLY: IDENTIFY PRIORITIES

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The proposed conference, "Mineral Homeostasis in the Elderly", is sponsored by the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development and will be presented in April of 1988 at the Searle Conference Center on the campus of Duke Medical School. Administrative arrangements will be coordinated by the Division of Continuing Medical Education in the Duke School of Medicine. The conference will have broad appeal for scientists, as well as practicing physicians and nutritionists in the medical community. The faculty of the conference constitute an outstanding group of scientists with expertise in many aspects of mineral metabolism. Throughout the conference, new approaches to current research questions will be addressed and collaboration between scientists of different disciplines will be encouraged. The conference will be divided into four areas of emphasis: the first will address specific mechanisms which maintain mineral homeostasis and will focus on intestinal uptake and dietary requirements for minerals in the elderly. Thus the ground work will be laid for the second section, which will concern alterations in mineral metabolism which occur as a consequence of aging. The effects of aging on intestinal uptake of calcium, age-related alterations in trace mineral metabolism, and changes in mineral requirements with age will be considered in this section. Thirdly, the pathological consequences of aberrant mineral metabolism will be addressed. New discoveries concerning the role of nutrition in osteoporosis will be considered and the potential for mineral deficiencies as a result of poorly designed diets or inadequate nutritional support of the hospitalized elderly will be explored. The fourth section will focus on the potential for nutritional intervention in disorders of mineral homeostasis. The role of nutritional therapy in treating age-related bone loss, impaired immune function, and other abnormalities will be addressed and the possibility of determining nutritional requirements for the frail elderly will be considered. A post-conference meeting of the participating speakers will be held to develop a consensus statement of research needs. A summary of the conclusions will be submitted as a special report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and will also become a part of the conference proceedings.