With a increasingly aging population, Americans can take heart in the fact that life expectancy has increased by fifty percent between the 20th and 21st centuries. Our average lifespan is now 75 years. Science, more than just adding “days to our lives” has helped to add “life to our days”. In addition to the medical advances that have cured disease and helped us cope with chronic illness, science is responsible for helping us combat the consequences of aging.
Before we discuss those breakthroughs, let’s first consider what we mean by aging. In simplest terms, aging is the wear and tear our body and its systems undergo simply by living. Muscles start to sag, skin wrinkles, vision dims, hearing is lost, memory fails, and joints start to become stiff and achy. These symptoms tend to worsen as the years pass.
The quest for youth has created new opportunities for scientific research. With the aging population taking over the majority in America, there is an entire industry devoted to dealing with the consequences of a prolonged life. In fact scientists have broken it down into three areas of study. They are:
• Compressed morbidity—Compressed morbidity is the most conventional of the research areas. In this, scientists’ goal is to prevent chronic illnesses of old age by understanding the molecular process of the disease. With compressed morbidity, the most important result is not maximum life expectancy, but rather maximum health. Many consider Jack Lalanne, the father of fitness, a perfect icon of compressed morbidity. LaLanne died this year at age 96, keeping an active fitness regime until his death. He did, as he once stated was his goal by, “wearing out, not rusting out.” For those who value quality over quantity, compressed morbidity offers solutions.
• Decelerated aging—In decelerated aging, researchers seek to extend life to maximum expectancy. Biogerontology addresses the biological processes of aging. Biogerontological researchers are looking to understand the causes, effects and mechanisms of aging. In biomedical gerontology, researchers look for ways to slow, prevent, and reverse aging in both humans and animals. This includes curing age-related diseases and slowing down the underlying processes of aging. There are ethical concerns about both areas of research. Since aging is not technically a disease, any procedures that come from any of the research would not be considered medical treatment, and therefore would only be available to those who could afford to pay for them.
• Arrested aging—This is the most controversial area of research, in which scientists look for ways to cure the affects of aging by removing the metabolic damage cause by aging and restoring youthful appearance, vitality and body functions. Commercial arrested aging products and services, such as cosmetics, and alternative therapies have a foundation in science, but a stronger base in advertising and marketing. Cosmetic treatments that result from research on aging are at best superficial and short term. In fact by law, cosmetics are not allowed to affect cellular or biochemical processes. Alternate therapies such as the use of nutritional or hormonal supplements may have some clinical benefits for aging patients. However, none of them has been proven to reverse the aging process. Ironically, the search for a longer life has itself had quite a life span. Remedies can be traced back to the early days of Chinese medicine. The 16th century explorer Juan Ponce de Leon thought he had discovered the fountain of youth when he landed on the shores of St. Augustine, Florida. Today, Americans are hoping that scientific research will discover a breakthrough that will deliver a medical Fountain of Youth.
Before we discuss those breakthroughs, let’s first consider what we mean by aging. In simplest terms, aging is the wear and tear our body and its systems undergo simply by living. Muscles start to sag, skin wrinkles, vision dims, hearing is lost, memory fails, and joints start to become stiff and achy. These symptoms tend to worsen as the years pass.
The quest for youth has created new opportunities for scientific research. With the aging population taking over the majority in America, there is an entire industry devoted to dealing with the consequences of a prolonged life. In fact scientists have broken it down into three areas of study. They are:
• Compressed morbidity—Compressed morbidity is the most conventional of the research areas. In this, scientists’ goal is to prevent chronic illnesses of old age by understanding the molecular process of the disease. With compressed morbidity, the most important result is not maximum life expectancy, but rather maximum health. Many consider Jack Lalanne, the father of fitness, a perfect icon of compressed morbidity. LaLanne died this year at age 96, keeping an active fitness regime until his death. He did, as he once stated was his goal by, “wearing out, not rusting out.” For those who value quality over quantity, compressed morbidity offers solutions.
• Decelerated aging—In decelerated aging, researchers seek to extend life to maximum expectancy. Biogerontology addresses the biological processes of aging. Biogerontological researchers are looking to understand the causes, effects and mechanisms of aging. In biomedical gerontology, researchers look for ways to slow, prevent, and reverse aging in both humans and animals. This includes curing age-related diseases and slowing down the underlying processes of aging. There are ethical concerns about both areas of research. Since aging is not technically a disease, any procedures that come from any of the research would not be considered medical treatment, and therefore would only be available to those who could afford to pay for them.
• Arrested aging—This is the most controversial area of research, in which scientists look for ways to cure the affects of aging by removing the metabolic damage cause by aging and restoring youthful appearance, vitality and body functions. Commercial arrested aging products and services, such as cosmetics, and alternative therapies have a foundation in science, but a stronger base in advertising and marketing. Cosmetic treatments that result from research on aging are at best superficial and short term. In fact by law, cosmetics are not allowed to affect cellular or biochemical processes. Alternate therapies such as the use of nutritional or hormonal supplements may have some clinical benefits for aging patients. However, none of them has been proven to reverse the aging process. Ironically, the search for a longer life has itself had quite a life span. Remedies can be traced back to the early days of Chinese medicine. The 16th century explorer Juan Ponce de Leon thought he had discovered the fountain of youth when he landed on the shores of St. Augustine, Florida. Today, Americans are hoping that scientific research will discover a breakthrough that will deliver a medical Fountain of Youth.
