Anisha Tailor
Outreach Officer, The Physiological Society

https://doi.org/10.36866/pn.98.11

Life expectancy has seen a steady increase with no signs of levelling off, and according to a report by the World Health Organisation, ‘we will soon have more older people than children and more people at extreme old age than ever before’. Ageing is a fact of life. It is a process which we are all continually experiencing; however as life expectancy has increased so has the occurrence of age associated diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Type II diabetes and osteoporosis to name a few.  Researchers are now looking into how they can slow the process of ageing, putting diseases at bay and keeping the population healthier for longer. The Society’s 2015 public engagement and school activities will explore some of this research as part of our themed year of ‘Understanding Ageing’. Our talks and activities will not only discuss how we can keep ageing at bay, but will also take a closer look at the physiology of why we age, and  what changes our bodies experience from the first moments of life to the last.

Our festival programme begins in March, at Brighton Science Festival. The Society will be joining the activities of Big Science Weekend, a jam-packed weekend of fascinating science talks, debates, and hands on activities in Brighton’s Sallis Benney Theatre. The Society’s talk, ‘Eat Less, Live Longer’ will take a closer look at the diet which has been sweeping the nation, the 5:2 diet. With media claims stating that diets involving intermittent fasting and calorie restrictions could be the route to a longer healthier life, The Society’s event will present research from Matt Piper, expert in calorie restriction at UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing and Anthony Howell, one of one of the authors of ‘The 2 day diet’ and Professor of Medical Oncology at The University of Manchester. The event will be kept lively by Chair Richard Faragher, expert in the biology of ageing at The University of Brighton.

In mid-march, The Society will be at The Big Bang Fair with our hands-on stand The Age Experiments. Our stand will set up shop in the National Exhibition Centre for four days discussing how our muscle strength, reactions and memory change as we get older. Participants will be invited to test their grip strength, and reaction speeds helping us to plot a giant graph of their results.

In April, The Society will be up in Scotland for Edinburgh International Science Festival. We have co-organised a panel discussion with The British Pharmacological Society discussing the reality of banishing the ills of old age through pharmaceutical therapies.  Our Chair, Glenda Watt, Trustee at Age Scotland, will be joined by Tom Kirkwood Associate Dean of Ageing at The University of Newcastle, Richard Barrett Jolley, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Ageing and Chronic diseases at the University of Liverpool and Lynne Cox Associate Professor at the University of Oxford as they discuss the reality of a pill to ‘cure’ ageing.

Later in the festival The Society have also supported an evening event presented by The University of Edinburgh, The Living Brain. Hear how Edinburgh scientists are leading the way in understanding the ageing brain. Test your own brain, quiz the experts and hear from some of the research participants themselves. There will be an exclusive showing of the short film The Living Brain by Anne Milne, which tells the inspiring story of William and Jean and their involvement unique studies of the ageing brain.

The Society would like to thank The University of Edinburgh and Stirling University in supporting the development of our outreach and public engagement activities as part of our year of Understanding Ageing.