The New Mexico aging process study (1979-2003). A longitudinal study of nutrition, health and aging

In 1979, Dr. James S. Goodwin, M.D., assisted by Philip J. Garry, Ph.D., submitted a grant proposal to the United States Public Health Service/ National Institute on Aging (NIA) entitled, "A prospective study of nutrition in the elderly". This study was approved and funded by the NIA beginning in 1979. Initially, approximately 300 men and women over 65 years of age with no known medical illnesses and no prescription medications were selected for this study. The primary purpose of this multi disciplinary study, known in the literature as the New Mexico Aging Process Study (NMAPS), was to examine the role of nutrition and resultant changes in body composition and organ function in relation to the aging process and health status of the elderly. This was accomplished by following prospectively healthy elderly volunteers, obtaining in-depth information about dietary habits, lifestyle, body composition, organ function, cognitive status, vitamin metabolism, genetic markers, and biochemical measures of nutritional status and then examining these data in relationship to age and health status and changes in health status. Some of the specific aims of the study were modified over the course of this longitudinal study because of availability of University of New Mexico School of Medicine faculty with expertise in different areas of aging research. In 1988, Dr. Bruno Vellas from the University Hospital in Toulouse, France became an on-going visiting professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. From 1988, until the study was terminated in 2003, Dr. Vellas has collaborated with the faculty involved in the NMAPS on a number of research projects. In this article, we provide information about the studies overall design and briefly describe some of the major finding of the NMAPS.