Obesity: A Bad Partner for the Elderly

Ageing is an unavoidable process that along time conduces to the loss of function of cells and tissues. Age-related modifications culminate in disease and death of the organisms. Life expectancy of humans has steadily increased in the last 50 years and the incidence of age-associated disease has increased too. Among the timedependent changes that afflict the aged individuals, obesity has gained a great importance. Adiposity increases in older individuals and tends to accumulate in visceral space, creating a metabolic threat that, together with senescence-related cell modifications, results in tissue degeneration increment and disease. In this chapter, the contribution of obesity to the ageing phenotype is discussed with a special focus on the senescence of adipose cells. In the final part of the chapter, strategies directed to mitigate the effects of obesity in old individuals that include bariatric surgery, nutritional and pharmacological interventions are presented.

Keywords: Adipokines, Adipose tissue, Adiposity assessment, Antidiabetic drugs, Brown adipose tissue, Energy restriction mimetics, Epidemiology of obesity, Epigenetics of ageing and obesity, Genetics of ageing and obesity, Human ageing, Menopause, MicroRNAs, Obesity paradox, Senescent cells, Telomere attrition, Visceral white adipose tissue.