The Innovative Path to Healthy Aging
By Mike Devoy, Bayer
Since 1900, global average life expectancy has more than doubled resulting in aging societies and demographic shift. Thanks to numerous scientific breakthroughs and by continuously pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation, people can look forward to living a longer, healthier life. Science is key when it comes to enabling healthy aging. Three recent scientific developments stand out when it comes to medical innovation in the context of age-related diseases and better health for people of all ages.
Intelligent Holistic Integrated Care
Changing how we picture aging involves changing how we imagine care. By delivering integrated care and primary health services that are responsive and maybe even tailor-made to the needs of the individual, an opportunity is given to empower and educate patients and their caregivers of a new holistic approach of health- and disease self-management. Ideally, people will not have to worry about health and prevention in 20, 30 years, or at least much less than before. A holistic, digital, intelligent system of prevention, detection and healthcare could then help to identify diseases much further in advance and respond accordingly.
New Cardiovascular Disease Treatments
Another area to explore when gaining a deeper understanding of aging is cardiovascular and cardiorenal treatments, the advancements, and the procedures that are in the limelight to unlock healthy aging. It is estimated that within the next decade, 40% of the 65-and-older age bracket will be severely impacted by cardiovascular disease*. As a large risk factor and being prevalent in the aging process, it is likely the age group will feel their quality of life is compromised or diminished by a heart condition. New medical innovations will potentially offer better treatment options for chronic heart failure patients, reduce hospital admissions, and thus help preserve their value of life.
Beyond Treatment Through Regenerative Medicines
When it comes to replacing, engineering, or regenerating human cells, regenerative medicines are expected to go beyond symptomatic treatments and act as a transformative technology. It aims to act as an important factor in potentially eliminating chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, or Parkinson’s disease, to prevent long-term suffering. In the case of Parkinson’s for example, cell and gene therapy could have the potential to re-innervate the affected regions of the human brain, reverse the degenerative process, and restore motor function.
These and other disruptive approaches are the path to truly inclusive healthy aging, driven by digital and biotechnological innovation that most likely will change how people re-imagine their future lives. With WHO’s ‘Decade of Healthy Ageing’, it becomes even more relative and evident how science can help with decoding the human body and ultimately healthy aging itself.
Scientific innovation will continue to enhance how we age but it will take a conscientious combination of healthcare breakthroughs along with social and societal change to reshape how we age, and the role older people will play in society. Independent from medical innovation, educating and promoting awareness of healthy aging should always remain an essential first step that aims to encourage and empower individuals to make daily improvements to their health and allow them to live longer and stronger.
There is high hope for the future of older people as we advance in improving and extending quality of life through medical breakthroughs.
Mike Devoy is Chief Medical Officer of Bayer and Executive VP Medical Affairs & Pharmacovigilance for the Pharmaceuticals Division. Bayer is a member of the Global Coalition on Aging.
