Aging is characterized by a host of changes in metabolic variables which have profound effects on disease development and on survival. The BLSA provides the opportunity to conduct analyses on these variables to relate them to other characteristics of the individual, and to analyze for long-term effects of these complex interactions. Variables which are potentially alterable by changes in life style characteristics (diet, body weight, activity level) are of especial importance in this respect. Normative data, possibly specific for age, are required and can only be determined rationally by analyses such as these. In the past year, dietary diary information has been obtained on 330 men and women. This will provide an update for the previous 1961-1975 dietary information. Glucose tolerance data on women were analyzed; the glucose dose is essentially that recommended by WHO but with an adjustment for body size (40g/2 surface area). There were several interesting results: (1) the phase of the menstrual cycle does not influence glucose tolerance; (2) there is a progressive deterioration of tolerance with age from the 20's through the 70's; (3) women on oral contraceptive agents had poorer tolerance while women on estrogen replacement had better tolerance than their age peers. Erythrocyte and hemoglobin levels show no age changes in women, but men show a progressive increase in red cell size and decrease in erythrocyte hemoglobin concentration with aging.
