IS AGING A DISEASE?

Some experts say it should be treated that way, and pricey ‘longevity clinics’ agree

By Christopher Zara

new. Whether it’s taking a good old-fashioned walk in the park or injecting your furrowed brow with chemicals to freeze your face, attempts to hold onto youth can vary from the everyday to the extreme. And now, aging isn’t just viewed as a normal part of life. It’s being looked at like a “disease.” And while the idea is controversial, it’s found some traction. The World Health Organization(WHO) even came close to recognizing aging as a disease, proposing “old age” as a diagnosis before ultimately withdrawing it.

Trying to slow down or reverse the effects of aging is nothing

It would have been a significant shift in language because it means that, if aging is, in fact, a disease, it’s also a treatable condition. Not only will new therapies and treatments emerge as a result, but classifying aging in this way also paves the way for those treatments to eventually be covered by insurance. While we’re a ways away from that milestone, the treatments have already arrived. At least, for those who can afford them.

Age-defying treatments are taking place at what are being called longevity clinics, and they’re popping up all over the globe. They offer treatments at the cellular level. That means early detection of diseases like cancer, measuring biomarkers of aging, and antiaging intervention. Those interventions can include anything from diet and exercise regimens to stem-cell and hormone therapy, gene therapies, breathing masks designed to boost energy, hyperbaric oxygen chambers, light therapy, and even plasmapheresis, which is the process of removing harmful substances from the blood to treat a variety of illnesses.

Human Longevity Inc. is a popular clinic with locations in San Francisco, San Diego, and Beijing. Its website boasts that its technology can help patients live “to 100 and beyond.” And that doesn’t even seem like a stretch. It collected data from 1,190 individuals using its health platform: 40% of asymptomatic patients required medical intervention that preemptively treated a disease, while 14% saw findings that required immediate attention. Essentially, the clinic is just a form of ultraproactive preventative care where conditions that may develop, or are close to developing, are stopped in their tracks.

It’s certainly more extensive testing than most people would ever imagine undergoing in their lives. That’s because the aim is massive: a longer, healthier existence. Of course, there’s a price. The longevity industry is expected to be a $44 billion market by 2030, according to Allied Market Research. And one clinic, Rosebar at Six Sense Ibiza, which opened April 1, costs $4,556 for a seven-day program. That doesn’t even include room and board. Many programs offer memberships for ongoing treatment, like Fountain Life, which has locations in Dallas, Naples, and White Plains. But when you think about the fact that the U.S. spends over $4.5 trillion on healthcare, it almost makes sense to throw some money at preventative care instead.

It’s still a little brain-rattling to think of age as a disease for which there are achievable cures, and there are certainly folks who don’t believe in looking at aging like an ailment. Daniel Belsky, an assistant professor at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, is one such expert who takes issue with the view. He told MIT Technology Review last year that “Aging is a cause of disease, not a disease itself.” There are many others who agree with him. Still, while scientists are torn on the language, most seem to agree that using hard data from our bodies in the form of scans, DNA, biomarkers, and more, absolutely has the power to extend lives and improve our quality of it.