Is Aging a Disease?
Unlike life, this flawed argument seems to have no end
Whenever philosophers, scientists, medical professionals or futurists talk about the effects of aging, it tends to devolve into a two-sided debate over whether…
- aging is a natural course of life that can (but does not always necessarily) contribute to illness and disability, or…
- aging is a disease and a primary cause of other illness and disability.
Science writer Sarah Sloat dug into this age-old debate, interviewing scientists on both sides, for an article in Technology Review. Most revealing was this nugget: The World Health Organization (WHO) recently considered replacing the word for the diagnosis of “senility,” with the term “old age.” Essentially: You’re not senile. You’re just old.
Some experts argue this would only further ageism, Sloat reported:
If age alone were presumed to be a disease, that could lead to inadequate care from physicians… Rather than pinpoint exactly what’s troubling a patient, a problem could simply be dismissed as a consequence of advanced years.
From the other side, this argument, promoted by David Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School:
The best way to combat ageism is to tackle aging: facing the problem head-on by devising treatments to slow its progress. ““The current view that aging is acceptable is ageism in itself.”
