Understanding the relationship between frailty and longevity becomes increasingly important as the world continues to age and life expectancy in most countries continues to increase. The articles contained in this book are the outcome of a colloquium sponsored by Fondation IPSEN in which interdisciplinary perspectives were brought to bear on conceptual, empirical and clinical aspects of this relationship.

From the contents:
The medfly as a frailty model: implications for biodemographic research

Social control of aging and frailty in bees
A review of genes that act downstream of the DAF-16 FOXO transcription factor to influence the lifespan of C. elegans
Calorie restriction in nonhuman primates: impact on aging, disease, and frailty
Evolutionary perspectives on human longevity and frailty
Flies without wings
Biological markers and the molecular biology of frailty
Inflammation: the fire of frailty?
Early life conditions affect historical change in old-age mortality
Aging, frailty, and the compression of morbidity: definite progress
Cognition and frailty: possible interrelations
Consequences of the 2003 summer heat wave on mortality levels in France
The oldest-old: emergence of a new population
Subject index.