Defining an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome: International Consensus Statement
Emma Short, ICCARP, Ian M. Adcock, Bilal Al-Sarireh, Ann Ager, Ramzi Ajjan, Naveed Akbar, Michael A. Akeroyd, Ghada Alsaleh, Ghada Al-Sharbatee, Kambiz Alavian, Winfried Amoaku, Julie Andersen, Chrystalina Antoniades, Mark J. Arends, Sue Astley, Denize Atan, Richard Attanoos, Johannes Attems, Steve Bain, Konstantinos Balaskas, Gabriel Balmus, Manohar Bance, Thomas M. Barber, Ajoy Bardhan, Karen Barker, Peter Barnes, Gemma Basatemur, Adrian Bateman, Moises Evandro Bauer, Christopher Bellamy, Edwin van Beek, Ilaria Bellantuono, Emyr Benbow, Sunil Bhandari, Rahul Bhatnagar, Philip Bloom, Dawn Bowdish, Melissa Bowerman, Melanie Burke, Roxana Carare, Emma Victoria Carrington, Jorge Iván Castillo-Quan, Peter Clegg, James Cole, Carlo Cota, Paul Chazot, Christopher Chen, Ying Cheong, Gary Christopher, George Church, David Clancy, Paul Cool, Del Galdo, Mayank Dalakoti, Soumit Dasgupta, Colleen Deane, Devesh Dhasmana, Stefan Dojcinov, Monia Di Prete, Huaidong Du, Niharika A. Duggal, Toby Ellmers, Costanza Emanueli, Mark Emberton, Jorge D. Erusalimsky, Laurence Feldmeyer, Alexander Fleming, Karen Forbes, Thomas C. Foster, Daniela Frasca, Ian Frayling, Daniel Freedman, Tamas Fülöp, Georgina Ellison-Hughes, Gus Gazzard, Christopher George, Jesus Gil, Richard Glassock, Rob Goldin, John Green, Robyn Guymer, Hasan Haboubi, Lorna Harries, Simon Hart, Douglas Hartley, Sebri Hasaballa, Christin Henein, Maggie Helliwell, Emily Henderson, Rakesh Heer, Kristofer Holte, Iskander Idris, David Isenburg, Juulia Jylhävä, Ahmed Iqbal, Simon W. Jones, Rajesh Kalaria, Venkateswarlu Kanamarlapudi, Werner Kempf
Abstract
Around the world, individuals are living longer, but an increased average lifespan does not always equate to an increased health span. With advancing age, the increased prevalence of ageing-related diseases can have a significant impact on health status, functional capacity and quality of life. It is therefore vital to develop comprehensive classification and staging systems for ageing-related pathologies, diseases and syndromes. This will allow societies to better identify, quantify, understand and meet the healthcare, workforce, well-being and socioeconomic needs of ageing populations, whilst supporting the development and utilisation of interventions to prevent or to slow, halt or reverse the progression of ageing-related pathologies. The foundation for developing such classification and staging systems is to define the scope of what constitutes an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome. To this end, a consensus meeting was hosted by the International Consortium to Classify Ageing-Related Pathologies (ICCARP), on February 19, 2024, in Cardiff, UK, and was attended by 150 recognised experts. Discussions and voting were centred on provisional criteria that had been distributed prior to the meeting. The participants debated and voted on these. Each criterion required a consensus agreement of ≥ 70% for approval. The accepted criteria for an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome were (1) develops and/or progresses with increasing chronological age; (2) should be associated with, or contribute to, functional decline or an increased susceptibility to functional decline and (3) evidenced by studies in humans. Criteria for an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome have been agreed by an international consortium of subject experts. These criteria will now be used by the ICCARP for the classification and ultimately staging of ageing-related pathologies, diseases and syndromes.