10
Dental Survéy— “ [ntra-oral examinations were
conducted as past-ai the phvsical examination. All
patients were examined with mouth mirror and
explorer. Illumination was by standard operating
Table!
Age Distribution in Rongelap Adult Population, 1959
Used in Aging Study
light. Salivary BH was taken by use of pHydrion
on all subjects who were not eating candyor any
Exposed =
Unex posed
Age. vt
Mo
F
M
F
Dental examinations were carried out on the following groups: 30 children at Majuro; all the
adults and children at Rongelap who were in the
phvsical examination group: and a number of
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-29
40-44
45-49
0
2
3
l
¢
I
5
1
2
4
2
0
!
12
3
+
5
2
5
°
3
+
3
3
L2
21
.3
{3
13
5
I
0
3
3
I!
Studies of Aging Criteria
33-59
50-64
65-69
0
3
other foodstuff. Saliva samples were collected from
these patients at the time fH determinations were
made. Intra-oral radiograms were not available.
children at Utink.
Although the expesed group has shown no outward evidence visible by gross observationofany
accelerated agine effect of radiation, it was
thought desirable to have available measurable
criterta of possible age changes for use during normal physical examinauon. Therefore the over-all
objective of this study was to establish tests to
evaluate anv possible radiation-induced senescence in the exposed group compared with the un-
exposed population living on the same island.
However, the data (presented in a later section on
results) collected during the 1959 survey (5 years
after exposure) showed no apparent differences
between the exposed and unexposed groups.
Therefore the data from the two groups have been
pooled with the objectives of presenting the methodology, indicating the trend of changes with age
of the various aging criteria chosen, and attempung
to determinea biological age score for individuals
and different age groups.
This study was hampered by the small number
of people involved andthe lack ofvital statistics on
the Marshallese people. Another difficulty has
been the uncertainty of exact ages in some cases,
particularly in older people.
Data on aging criteria were recorded only on
adults 20 years of age and over. Of the 126 adults,
42 were in the originally exposed group and 84 in
the larger comparison population. Table { shows
the age and sex distribution. The ages were reasonably well distributed except for a smaller number
_of older people (>60 years of age).
The age criteria chosen were based on changes
generally believed to be associated with physiological senescence and represent only a small number
of the possible ones. Theywere selected witha
1185960
30-34
2
0
0
I
6
0
3
3
2
0
1
Qa0
70-74
ep
>80
2
73-79
2
1
Q
2
l
3
3
0
Total
?
[4
5
5
126
view toward ease of assessment during routine
physical examination under feld conditions, time
limitations, and language barrier. Therefore, un-”
fortunately, tests of vigor and functional capacity
were necessarily limited.*
Of the 15 criteria selected, 9 were measured
directly and 6 were estimated on a 0 through 4+
scale. Five tests involved the integument: (1) skin
looseness, (2) skin elasticity (retraction time}, (3)
senile changesin the skin, (4) greying of the hair,
and (3) baldness. Four tests involved the speciai
sense organs: (1) accommodation, (2) visual acuity,
(3) arcus senilis, and (4) hearing. The cardiovascular system was tested by (1) systolic and (2)
diastolic blood pressure recordings, (3) peripheral!
arteriosclerosis, and (4) retinal arteriosclerosis.
There was one test of neuromuscular function.
Vigor was measured by hand strength measure-
ments. The test methods are described below.
integument.
A special skin caliper was designed for measuring skin looseness and elasticity
(Figure 8). The legs of the caliper can be opened
to any desired degree up to 5cmon scale 4 byad-
justing screw B. The spring tension when thecaliper is closed on a fold of skin results in a pressure
of about 500 g. The inner and outer surfaces of the
legs are calibrated in millimeter markings (C).
*Several tests, such as pulse and blood pressure response to 4
two-step test and vital capacity, were tried but not used because
they proved unsatisfactory.