Decades-Long study aims to unlock secrets of aging
NCT ID NCT00233272
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 02, 2026 · Updated 9 times
Summary
This study, running since 1958, follows healthy adults aged 20 and older for life to understand how people age. Participants undergo physical exams, cognitive tests, imaging, and other assessments every few years. The goal is to characterize the aging process and learn how people can adapt successfully.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Participants
-
About 10,000 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Feb 2014
- Lead sponsor
-
A government research agency
The lead sponsor is the US National Institutes of Health.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
Who is studied
Healthy volunteers 20 years of age or older.
- Ages
-
20 to 120 years
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
* INCLUSION CRITERIA: These criteria pertain to the Screening Visit and Visit 1. If any of these conditions develop after this time, the participant remains in the study. In particular, participants who develop cognitive, motor or psychiatric conditions are retained in the study, although they are excluded from specific testing in which their underlying health condition is an exclusion criteria. Participants that refuse genetic testing and storage at Visit 1 will not be eligible to participate in the study. * Age greater than or equal to 20 years of age * Weigh less than or equal to 300lbs and/or body mass index (BMI) is less than or equal to 40 * Do not have established genetic diseases * Are able to perform daily self- care without assistance * Are able to walk independently for at least 400 meters without assistance and without developing symptoms * Are able to perform normal activities of daily living without shortness of breath (walking or climbing stairs) * Do not have cognitive impairment based on screening tests and in the absence of any drug treatment * Do not have a history of cardiovascular disease (including angina, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular diseases, uncontrolled hypertension) * Do not have a history of diabetes (requiring any medical treatment other than diet and exercise) * Do not have active (any activity in the last 10 years) cancer, except for locally limited basal or squamous cell cancer * Do not have clinically significant hormonal dysfunction (Laboratory values out of range despite supplementation and/or drug treatment) * Do not have a history of neurological diseases or birth defects (other than minor anatomical abnormalities, which do not affect physical and/or cognitive function) * Do not have a history of kidney or liver disease (associated with reduced kidney or liver function) * Do not have a history of severe gastrointestinal (G.I.) diseases * Do not have muscle-skeletal conditions due to diseases or traumas (that cause pathological weakness and/or chronic pain) * Do not have a history of severe psychiatric conditions (associated with behavioral problems or requiring chronic medical treatment) * Do not have any medical condition that requires absolute and continuous need for long term treatment with antibiotics, corticosteroids, immunosuppressors, H2 blockers and/or proton pump inhibitors, or pain medications * Do not have important sensory deficits (legally blind and/or any condition that precludes the participant from being tested with standard neuropsychological tests or providing informed consent) * Able to read and speak English * Do not have joint replacements due to arthritic changes (joint replacements due to previous trauma are ok) or do not have 2 or more joint replacements for any reason * Do not meet any exclusionary criteria for 3T MRI and agrees to perform the test * Agree to genetic (DNA/RNA) sample collection, analysis, and storage at Visit 1 EXCLUSION CRITERIA: These criteria pertain to the Screening Visit and Visit 1. If conditions considered as exclusion criteria for study entry develop any time after the this, the participant remains in the study. Exclusion Criteria Based on Laboratory Assessment: * HIV virus infection * Hepatitis B or C * Syphilis * WBC \> 12,000/mcrL * Platelets \< 100,000 or \>600,000 /mcrL * Hemoglobin \< 11 g/dL * Creatinine \>1.5 mg/dl or calculated creatinine clearance \< 50 cc/min * Bilirubin \> 1.5 mg/dl (unless higher levels can be ascribed to Gilbert s disease) * ALT, AST or alkaline phosphatase twice the normal serum concentration * Corrected calcium \< 8.5 or \> 10.7 mg/dl * Albumin \< 3.1 g/dl
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Aging are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
-
The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
National Institute of Aging, Clinical Research Unit
RECRUITINGBaltimore, Maryland, 21224, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can sharing old memories boost mental Well-Being in old age?
- Can a Hands-On reflex therapy steady an older Person's stance?
- Scientists ask: when does a balance test score really improve?
- Gut check: can poop pills from young donors turn back the biological clock?
- Your smartwatch could soon warn you before you crash
- Can a tablet game rewire an aging brain to ignore distractions?