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Exercise for
the Elderly:
Have We Discovered the Fountain of Youth?
 Lynn Gerber, M.D.
Chief, Department of Rehabilitation
Medicine
Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical
Center
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By the year 2030, 85-year-olds will be the fastest growing segment
of our society; there will be 70 million Americans over the age of 65. Exercise
is one way to improve the quality of life for the elderly of all ages.
Drawing from her acknowledged expertise
in rheumatology, rehabilitation, and biomechanics, Dr. Lynn Gerber
will speak about how exercise affects our aging bodies.
She completed her undergraduate work
at Smith College, continuing on to earn her medical degree
from Tufts University School of Medicine. She completed internal
medicine at the New England Medical Center. Dr. Gerber joined
NIH as a Clinical Associate in the Arthritis and Rheumatism Branch
of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive
Diseases (now called the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases or NIAMS), where she completed her fellowship
in rheumatology. Subsequently, she did a residency in physical
medicine and rehabilitation at George Washington University Medical
Center. In 1976, she returned to NIH as Chief of the Clinical
Centerís Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Currently, she also directs the Foot
Management Program at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in
Washington, D.C. In addition, she is a physician with the Arthritis
and Rheumatism Branch of NIAMS, as well as a Clinical Professor
of Rheumatology at Georgetown University.
She has authored or co-authored over
100 publications, including journal articles and textbook chapters
in rheumatology and rehabilitation medicine. She also serves as
a journal reviewer for the Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation, the Journal of Rheumatology, and the
Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Dr. Gerber is a diplomate of the American
Board of Internal Medicine, in the board's subspecialty of rheumatology,
and a diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation.
She maintains active professional membership
in the D.C. Rheumatism Society, the American College of
Rheumatology, the American Academy of Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation, and the Association of Academic Physiatrists.
A recipient of numerous honors, Dr. Gerber
has received WETAís Woman of Achievement, an NIH Director's
Award, and a Public Health Service Award for exceptional achievement
in orphan products development.
Dr. Gerber lectures widely, both nationally
and internationally, at lectureships and symposia. She has also organized national conferences and
courses on rheumatology and rehabilitation medicine.
Tonight, Dr. Gerber will explain how
regular exercise can reverse or prevent many of the changes seen
in the aging process. This is important knowledge for those seeking
productive, active lives--at any age.
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For more information
about the Clinical Center and its Medicine for the Public lecture
series, contact CC Communications (OCCC@nih.gov),
(301) 496-2563.
National Institutes
of Health, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland
20892. 7/99
99
Series | CC home | NIH home
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