[Aging of the respiratory system in various groups of the population]

Two groups of practically healthy elderly and old people were investigated. The first group consisted of 265 aborigens of three Abkhazian villages examined under field conditions, and the second group was composed of 227 inhabitants of Ukraine, the patients of clinic at Institute of Gerontology in Kiev. It was established that changes of the lung ventilation parameters typical of ageing were less pronounced in the Abkhazian inhabitants than in the Ukrainian ones. Ageing dynamics and values of the studied parameters were the same in Abkhazians: relatives of the long-living people and Abkhazians without hereditary predisposition to longevity. This fact permits a conclusion that the peculiarities of the respiratory system ageing in the Abkhazian population are mainly due to the environmental factors.