Why helping people to age well is a new healthcare priority

-Scientists understand the biological mechanisms of ageing now more than ever.

-Any successful treatment to reverse or delay ageing will aggregate benefits across multiple disease fronts.

-In dealing with an ageing society, the focus must expand beyond the current old to include the young and people in middle-age.

 
The widespread improvement in global life expectancy was one of the greatest achievements of the 20th Century. In 1900, life expectancy at birth was 32 years; by 2019 it had risen to 73. However, as life expectancy continues to rise new challenges emerge.

In high-income countries, most life expectancy gains are now driven by improvements in mortality rates after 70 years of age. This means more people are living to ages where their health is getting worse.

As a result, there has been a gradual shift in the disease burden from infectious diseases towards non-communicable diseases, the incidence of which rises with age. In 2019, non-communicable diseases accounted for nearly three-quarters of all deaths globally. Given that more than 75% of all non-communicable-disease deaths are in low- and middle-income countries, this is a global problem.

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Πηγή: weforum.org