AGEING, LONGEVITY AND IMMORTALITY : Part-1

By His Grace and Blessings, I write

Ageing and Longevity

When our children ask us whether we will live with them forever, it’s difficult to give a clear-cut answer. I am reminded of what G B Shaw once said,” Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed.” We have long ago accepted the mortality as a natural end to the process of ageing. Someday or the other we may have confronted (in case of our loved ones) or will have to confront the limitation to our own physical existence. However, many of us shy away from such discussions and sometimes may even find these discussions sacrilegious.

My aim through this series is to involve you in the discussions around ageing, death, morbidity and mortality of our bodies. It is only when we open up to these discussions, that we can be better prepared to deal with these challenges. By the end of this series, I promise to bring a drastic transformation to your understanding of these issues. In the dark clouds of passivity which surrounds these issues and which we have so far accepted as fait-accompli, there is a silver lining. There is hope that we can live longer and with better health i.e. longevity and health-spans which may extend beyond 100’s of years. However, before I proceed any further, I wish to take you through the reasons that lie behind the selection of this topic or why is it should concern us all?

Oh ! Aging…….Can we reverse it ?

The background; The Population Projections and life expectancies

The World Population Projection 2019 highlighted that in 2018, for the first time, persons aged 65 years or over worldwide outnumbered children under age five. Projections indicate that by 2050, the number of persons aged 65 or over will be more than twice the number of children under age of 5 and will also surpass the number of adolescents and youth aged 15-24.

In India, by 2025, the people over 65 will overtake the children under 5. These over 65 will form 1/7^th of India’s population by 2050 or going by the projections India will have around 23 crore adults of over 65 years.

In the 20^th century the life expectancies have increased like never before. Against the historical average of 35-40 years for every other century, the life expectancies have increased to 72.3 years in the current times. This is a gift of modern medicine and healthcare to mankind. The increase has largely occurred on account of a worldwide fall in infant mortality rates. So far so good.

What should concern us?

The increase in life spans is welcome. However, as on today in the developed world, only 10% of people above 80 live with their children. Of the remaining 90%, only 50% have a living spouse. George burns quipped, “Happiness is having a large, loving and caring family in another city”.

So today we live much longer then anytime in the historical past, but our lives are largely lonely during adulthood. A large section of population is in adulthood and majority is likely to attain adulthood by 2050. There are more than 100 million people in their adulthoods (65+) in China today, and India will see a highest surge in adult population by 2050. Despite all this clear predicament, we give virtually no thought as to how we will live out our later years. The medical science which has so meticulously applied its tools for enhancing our lifespans, has summarily failed to make much dent on our health spans and make our old age better. Consider the fact that you will rarely come across a geriatrics in any hospital. Only 1% of the medical research is devoted to understanding why we age and even less is devoted to trying to do something about it.

Consider that WHO has put out a 32-page report in 2013, citing that ageing is the biggest problem of our generation. Ageing now kills more than 50% of the people and this is historically unprecedented. So, until we do something to keep our adults healthy and productive, the costs of healthcare will crush the national infrastructures.

Now consider India which boasts of its huge demographic dividend. We devote less than 1% of our GDP to healthcare and we have no adult healthcare budgets. The Covid-19 has highlighted the poor state of healthcare infrastructures and either we don’t have or don’t want to devote any resources in improving it. My concern is what will be fate of many of us just 20/30 years down the line, when we grow old and are not in a position to avoid morbidity and mortality. The big question is are we prepared and if not, then can we do something about it?

This series will explore the answers to these questions. I will take you on a journey where we will search for lifestyles and habits of healthy centenarians. The research in the field of ageing and mortality has brought a paradigm shift in the thinking around these issues. Latest research opines that it is possible for us to reverse our biological clocks and live much longer and healthier than we live today. In fact, it points to theoretical possibility whereby we can live forever, if we wish. Hope someday we may prove G B Shaw wrong…Ameen…

By His Grace and Blessings, I write…

Dr. Seema Chaudhary

*A Times of India report on 3/07/2020 quoted  the Registrar General and Census Commission of India stating that for the first time, in 2018, more than half of India’s population, irrespective of gender or whether it’s in urban or rural areas, is now 25 years or older. This will have severe implications for the economy and for all of us who will be getting old in next 20/30 years . This was precisely the argument of my blog above…