Various functions decline with human aging,
and these functional changes with aging are
important factors for the ADLs and QOL in the
elderly. The assessment of these processes is
essential in the study of longevity and geriatrics.
Human aging is associated with many factors,
including not only physical and physiological
factors but also social and psychological factors.
Thus, assessment of human aging requires many
kinds of examinations and specialists in various
areas. In addition, human aging research
requires long-term study in which the same
subjects are measured repeatedly to observe
age-related changes.
In 1995, a national research institute of aging
in Japan, the National Institute for Longevity
Sciences (NILS) was established. And in 1997,
a new comprehensive study of aging and
geriatrics, the NILS-LSA (NILS - Longitudinal
Study of Aging) started at the NILS. The main
purpose of the NILS-LSA is to describe the
physiological and psychological process in aging.
The NILS-LSA also aims to assess the effects of
lifestyle, stress, and disease on aging, to detect
 

early markers of disease and disability, to
determine normal ranges of indices of aging,
to separate disease from aging, and to determine
biological aging.
Subjects were male and female residents aged
40 to 79 years who were randomly selected from
the neighborhood area of the NILS. The
examination started in November 1997 and the
first wave of the examination finished in April
2000. Examined participants were 2267. They
will be examined every two years. From April
2000, the second wave of examinations started,
and it will end in April 2002. Observed
variables were:(1)past and present history, and
familial history of geriatric disease;(2)life-style
and environment;(3)medical examinations of
geriatric diseases including head MRI, cardiovascular functions, bone mineral density, body fat, and body water;(4)nutritional assessments by food frequency questionnaire and dietary diary;
(5)physical activities and physical functions;(6)
psychological assessments such as personality,
cognition, emotion, social adaptation, and lifeevents.