When author Andrew Steel talks about curing aging like any other disease, many stand in disbelief. But the truth is that an ageless future might be on the horizon. Currently, we think of aging as a sad fact of life, however, what if it isn’t?
How to Remain Ageless in the Future
The Man Behind the Study
Andrew Steel has spent the last three years studying biogerontology, the scientific word for aging. In doing so, he argues the case for a future when our lives go on. Growing old is one of the most common causes of human suffering. When people think of what kills older individuals, most things like cancer and heart disease are caused by the aging process.
What is Aging?
Steel took the time to define aging as “the exponential increase in death and suffering over time.” In life, we tend to fly through the first five decades with few health problems. However, at some point, usually in our 60s, health problems and death become commonplace. Things like senescent cells and the wearing down of the body contribute to health problems. Throughout most of our lives, we are fine and then all at once, we are not.
What the Future Holds
In Steel’s book, Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, it states that anti-aging medicine could be on the horizon. The key, he claims, is the ability of doctors to identify the hallmarks of aging. Cancer, for example, is not a hallmark of aging. However, it is caused by several hallmarks of aging. If scientists can treat the hallmarks, they can come up with treatments that address the whole aging process.
The idea is that we will be able to live in good health longer. Expanding what Steel calls the “healthspan” of an individual’s life. This way, individuals can stay healthier longer into their later years.
Ever since Herodotus wrote about the Fountain of Youth in the 5th century, people have been looking for a cure to the aging process. Until this century, very little was known about why and how we age. For many years, scientists were discouraged by how complex the aging process must be to study. However, in the last three decades, researchers have recently sparked excitement. Some studies suggest that certain drugs, like cancer medicines and dietary supplements, can remove senescent cells in mice to reverse a number of aging signs. This included improving heart function.
In one study conducted on mice, researchers found that dasatinib and quercetin reversed the aging process in mice, increasing their lifespans by 10%, though it came with some hair loss. Essentially, in the last decade, biogerontological research has been accelerating. The first trial with the aim of removing senescent cells in humans began in 2018.
The reason these findings are interesting is that they indicate how aging can be treated. The fact is, a lot of significant breakthroughs could take place in the lifespan of people alive today. In fact, Steel believes that it is likely that a drug will be developed that can “treat” aging in the next decade or so.
Though this doesn’t mean that humans will be living for hundreds of years, it will give us extra time for additional breakthroughs. The idea is that these medical advancements will lead to an accumulation of life-extending treatments that will push the average lifespan further and further into the future. You won’t be immortal. However, it will result in lifespans in the future that far exceed the average of today. And healthier as they do it.
But What About Overpopulation and the Ageless?
Honestly, Steele considers this to be a silly question. There are a variety of ways to cope with a problem like overpopulation that doesn’t come at the cost of people’s lives. If he were talking about curing childhood leukemia, no one would push pack with fears of overpopulation.
Steele believes this argument is particularly ageist. The biggest issue here is how we view aging as a society and a normal part of the lifespan and less about a population problem. If we as a species are capable of preventing degenerative conditions from taking place, it would be unthinkable to simply let people waste away for the sake of overpopulation. It needs to be viewed as a curable disease, rather than an inevitability.
Agelessness is a call to arms and a problem that can be fixed. There seems to be a knee-jerk reaction that it is “unnatural” and therefore wrong. According to Steele:
“We place aging research in this separate category – socially, morally, ethically, even scientifically. When, actually, it’s just an extension of the normal goals of modern medicine.”
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