What is Longevity?

Although the passage of physical time  is the same for everyone, the biological time passes at a different pace for each of us. What is Longevity? This pace is mainly conditioned by two factors:

• The genetic predisposition and family history.
• The hábitos  that we choose to follow throughout our lives.

Today, in long-lived societies, almost everyone lives more than 65 years; enough for the health consequences of genetics and lifestyle to manifest.

Now that diseases associated with aging are becoming more common, the modern world faces a new dilemma: what will happen if we continue to fight the main lethal diseases one by one, just as we did a century ago, when we stand up to infectious diseases?

• There is a view of future longevity that suggests we can continue to extend life incrementally indefinitely, just as we did in the past.
• There is another view that states that, unless we attack the risk factor that underlies all these diseases, which is the biological process of aging, the period of weakness and disability of the elderly of the future will be much longer.

This last hypothesis, already accepted by scientists around the world, has given rise to a new public health initiative: the so-called “longevity dividend initiative” or “Geroscience”. A new impetus is being provided to the fight to slow down aging, under the premise that this new public health paradigm will be the most effective primary prevention method since vaccines and antibiotics became popular more than 70 years ago.

Now that diseases associated with aging are becoming more common, the modern world faces a new dilemma: what will happen if we continue to fight the main lethal diseases one by one, just as we did a century ago, when we stand up to infectious diseases?

• There is a view of future longevity that suggests we can continue to extend life incrementally indefinitely, just as we did in the past.
• There is another view that states that, unless we attack the risk factor that underlies all these diseases, which is the biological process of aging, the period of weakness and disability of the elderly of the future will be much longer.

Chris Meyer, an expert at the Future Trends Forum, adds: “It is assumed that at the individual level people are living longer, but the question is what are the implications of such increased longevity.”   Because living longer affects many parameters of society, both current and future. Impacta in health, education, the way of governing and even ethics.

To add more complexity to an already intricate issue, individual responses are sterile.  “It is not about identifying the trends in each area, but about knowing how they will end up interacting and changing society”, explic Meyer, who adds that this changing scenario is also a perfect breeding ground for new opportunities, both in business, politics or at the individual level. The phrase “sky is the limit” is perfect for defining the current situation when it comes to longevity.