Pursuing the Longevity Dividend

Abstract

The aging of humanity is about to experience a radical change as the demographic transformation to an older world is approaching its final stage. In recent decades, scientists have learned enough about the biological aging processes that many believe it will become possible to slow aging in humans. We contend that the social, economic, and health benefits that would result from such advances may be thought of as "longevity dividends," and that they should be aggressively pursued as the new approach to health promotion and disease prevention in the 21st century. The time has arrived for governments and national and international healthcare organizations to make research into healthy aging a major research priority. KEYWORDS: aging; interventions; mortalityAging for both populations and individuals is on the verge of a new era. Humans are approaching old age in unprecedented numbers as a result of large baby-boom cohorts born in the middle of the 20th century that are approaching traditional retirement ages. Increases in the prevalence of age-related disease, frailty, and disability are visible harbingers of the potential costs and social burdens arising from this historic demographic shift. Advances in the scientific knowledge of aging, however, have now created new opportunities that may allow us and those that follow to live healthier and longer lives than our predecessors. We have reached a historical moment as scientists learn enough about aging to allow us to postpone a wide range of fatal and disabling diseases expressed throughout the life span, the result of which would be health and economic benefits for current and all future generations.

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