by Tiffany Wieczorek
“We are within five to 10 years of a watershed event where there will be more people on earth over 65 than there under five,” Life expectancy in rich countries has been rising steadily, even beyond what most researchers thought was possible. It says that people in developed countries are now living about 3 decades longer than in the past. Improvements in health care are leading to slowing rates of aging. A drug that is supposed to lengthen life span are being tested on mice right now and may one day be applied to people. The pill, if it works for people is supposed to not only lengthen lifespan, but also help protect health as well. Researchers say that this pill may also be able to protect against a lot of age-related diseases. Many illnesses that affect the elderly like diabetes, heart disease and cancer are on the rise, but advances in medical treatment are helping people to stay active and alive for longer. They are however worried about the obesity factor, because that is one of the main reasons that all of these problems are caused in the first place and obesity does not seem to be slowing down. It has become a national epidemic. So, although the pill may work in the coming years, the obesity factor needs to be addressed because it will cause adverse affects.
I think it is amazing that people are able to live longer now than in the past. It is great that medical advances are taking place and there are more effective ways to treat illnesses than in the past. I really hope that this article is true and that something does come out that can increase lifespan and protect against age related diseases. Both of my grandfathers died at a relatively young age, 62 and 73 because of illnesses like cancer and diabetes. I hope that in the future, people will be able to spend more time with their loved ones and not have to lose them because of old age or age related illnesses because I know I wish that my grandfathers were still around and if a pill like they are talking about was available to them, maybe they wouldn’t have died from these illnesses or at so young an age.
People could accomplish so many more things in their lives and have more time to enjoy life and their friends and family. Life is very short and if there is a way to extend it, I am excited about it. I know I want to live long enough to know my grandchildren and great-grandchildren and to experience all the things I want to in life. I hope we all get that opportunity.
Questions that I have are: how do researchers even come up with something that they think may prolong lifespan? What part of the body/ brain do they study? Does study of DNA and diseases help in the development of this type of “drug”?
