Andreas Walther Book order

Current demographic statistics show that modern societies are rapidly aging. Aging in general is accompanied by an increased susceptibility to physical and mental disease as well as an increased risk of mortality. Health care costs are expected to rise enormously. Therefore, successful aging with less disease burden and dependency is emerging as one of the most crucial health care goals of the upcoming decades. In this dissertation, endocrine health and its age-related changes are focused. In men, a continuous decline of sex steroids such as testosterone or dehydroepiandrosterone occurs around the ages of 40 years leading to psychological and physical adaptation processes. The presented results indicate an integrated hormone parameter consisting of declining sex steroids as a useful biomarker of healthy aging in men. Furthermore, psychosocial risk factors such as depressive symptoms or chronic stress were shown to be associated with an intensified age-related decline of this integrated hormone parameter. In addition, the age-related deterioration in body composition was also shown to be associated with psychosocial risk and protective factors.

The risk of social exclusion has notably increased in recent decades, particularly affecting young people who often lack a stable social position, typically defined as stable employment. Across Europe, there is a growing consensus that policies must address the needs of youth, as they are seen as the future of society. However, a prevalent belief among politicians and policymakers is that any action taken for young people is sufficient. The thematic network 'Misleading Trajectories' aims to investigate these misconceptions and expose the pitfalls of social exclusion embedded in youth transition policies, such as those related to education, vocational training, career advice, social security, and labor market programs. Funded by the European Commission from 1998 to 2001 under the 4th Framework Programme for Research, Technology and Demonstration, the network comprised teams from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It was initiated based on the observation that many local, regional, national, and European policies intended to guide young adults toward employment, adult status, and social integration are, in reality, misleading.