There are several long term studies that have given researchers a treasure trove of data to examine. We all benefit greatly from the related output of knowledge and treatments. One such program is the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). It’s the longest running study on aging.
Since 1958, a total of more than 1,400 volunteers have agreed to regularly undergo in-depth physicals and memory and other screenings conducted by the study’s physicians. The resulting data span more than half a century and are a gold mine for researchers interested in the aging process…
“Participants really, really love the study,” said [program director Luigi] Ferrucci, a genial, gray-haired physician who first learned about the BLSA as a student in his native Italy. “They feel they are making a contribution to science, and they feel like aging is such an important and under-studied issue, anything they can do to help, they want to do.
It’s lucky for all us that folks give so much time and effort to programs like BLSA and the Framingham Heart Study.
