Laboratory Medicine and the Aging Process. Joseph A. Knight. Chicago: ASCP Press, 1996, 420 pp., $45.00, ISBN 0–89189-397–0

The lack of a clear understanding of the aging process poses a dilemma for health professionals. In the past, many chronic diseases of the elderly were simply attributed to aging per se, and little treatment was offered to correct the condition. However, new research studies have shown that, for the most part, chronic diseases of the elderly are simply age-associated (increasing with age) and therefore can be successfully treated. At issue also is a satisfactory definition of aging. Clearly, physiological age is not the same as chronological age, and many attempts to find a simple and accurate indicator of physiological age have not yielded a satisfactory result because of the tremendous heterogeneity within the elderly population. This particular book recognizes all of these factors and the focus is on age-associated diseases that result in many abnormal laboratory tests. As clearly pointed out in this book, many chronic age-associated health problems …