The Challenge of Health Span Emerge with Human Longevity
Have you ever wondered why, despite the abundance of hospitals, there aren’t many facilities specifically dedicated to maintaining health?
Certainly, exercising at a gym or being mindful of your diet can help ward off some factors that compromise health, but even these measures have their limits.
Have you also wondered why we can treat diseases but don’t have treatments to prevent them from occurring in the first place?
Since World War II, improvements in living conditions have helped conquer many diseases, leading to a significant increase in human lifespan. However, as people live longer, a new challenge has emerged.
That challenge is the issue of many people becoming unable to live independently due to aging.
Recently, the concept of “health span,” which refers to the period during which a person can live independently without needing care, has gained popularity, alongside the idea of lifespan.
On average, there is a gap of about 10 years between lifespan and health span. This means that for most people, their health span runs out before they die, leading to a bedridden or care-dependent state.
Even with current science, we have yet to conquer aging. However, we are starting to be able to artificially extend the health span.
This approach is known as “slow aging.”
The Limits of Modern Medicine Revealed by Longevity
It goes without saying that modern medicine has allowed us to lead rich and healthy lives. The role that medicine has played in overcoming diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries has been immense.
However, there is one condition under which medicine can be effective.
That condition is the occurrence of disease. Medicine can only begin treatment after a person has fallen ill and a diagnosis has been made.
In other words, medicine has limited ability to intervene with healthy individuals. While it can treat what has deteriorated, it cannot maintain or enhance a good state.
Another aspect that modern medicine cannot address is “aging.” Until now, aging has been considered an unavoidable natural phenomenon for humans. The belief that “aging is not a disease” has kept it outside the realm of treatment.
However, recent research is beginning to reveal a deep connection between aging and disease.
“If we can stop or delay aging, we might be able to prevent disease.” As this expectation grows, there has been a call for new approaches beyond conventional methods. It is in response to this demand that anti-aging medicine has emerged.