Friday September 16, 2022 – Author:
bab
By 2050, one in four people will be aged 65 and over. Life expectancy has increased, but not the time spent in good health. How doctors want to slow down the aging process.
By 2050, every fourth person in this country will be 65 years and older. Life expectancy has increased, but not the time spent in good health and with intact bodily functions. Doctors want to slow down the aging process.
“We need new prevention concepts that focus on protecting against frailty and maintaining physical function,” says Prof. Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, Clinic Director of the University Clinic for Geriatric Medicine at Zurich University Hospital and Zurich City Hospital.
Medical check-ups and vaccinations are not enough
She will report on her research in the field of geroscience at the Gerontology and Geriatrics Congress in Frankfurt am Main. “Today’s medicine focuses on the treatment of manifest diseases. Prevention efforts are largely limited to check-ups and vaccinations. This approach is no longer sustainable in an aging society,” said the researcher in a press release.
Geroscience aims to accurately measure and manipulate the aging process in order to simultaneously reduce multiple diseases and the risk of vulnerability. The hallmarks of aging determined in this way provide new biomarkers that make the success of preventive concepts measurable within a few months.
Omega-3, vitamin D and exercise tested
As part of the DO-HEALTH study, 2,157 healthy adults aged 70 and older have been examined over the past ten years. They come from Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria and Portugal. Three prevention strategies were tested on them: Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and exercise.
Beforehand, the phenotypes of all participants were recorded, including key lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity. Data on health care utilization and quality of life were also collected. Relevant factors as levers for effective prevention also include Sleepmental health and social interaction.
How doctors want to slow down the aging process
This is how doctors want to slow down the aging process: treat it directly and thus prevent functional losses and age-related diseases at an early stage before irreversible structural changes occur. “It is also exciting that the same preventive measures also prevent dementia, cancer risk and falls,” emphasizes Bischoff-Ferrari.