My maternal grandmother, Georgianna, was just two years shy of becoming a centenarian when she passed away peacefully in 2014, in the comfort of her daughter’s (my mother’s) home. Born to Italian immigrants in New Haven, Conn., where she would spend most of her 98 years, she found purpose in her work as an expert seamstress in her brother-in-law’s bridal gown shop, in meaningful socializing with friends and family and in cooking. Among many specialties was a most treasured dish for guests: homemade cavatelli (to this day my absolute favorite pasta).
She was also a life-saving force for her husband, Raphael (Ralph), my grandfather, through the many age-related complications of his type 2 diabetes: neuropathy (nerve damage, especially in the feet); diabetic retinopathy (eye and vision problems); renopathy (kidney disorder); and, what ultimately proved fatal for him, cardiovascular disease.
Despite facing many challenges from this complex chronic illness, my grandmother saw to it that he stayed as healthy as possible. She administered his daily insulin injections, oversaw his exercise regimen and watched his diet like a hawk (allowing him just the right portion size of that delicious cavatelli, with plenty of accompanying vegetables and protein). He died just before his 83rd birthday.
Their story is, in many ways, emblematic of the paradox of longevity: medical innovation (such as the discovery of therapeutic insulin and antibiotics) along with centuries of public health successes (clean water, the control of infectious disease, safer food, global vaccine dissemination) have given humans increasingly longer lifespans. With those prolonged lives come, for many of us, the debilitating diseases of aging: cancer, diabetes, neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, obesity, kidney disease and many others.
A healthier, happier and more productive wave of older people will no doubt reshape the world in tremendous ways.
While my grandfather’s lifespan was no doubt protracted by a confluence of scientific advancements (and the loving tenacity of his spouse), he did not enjoy the healthspan my grandmother was afforded: her many years of productive living, relatively disease-free.
This concept of healthspan—the years of life that remain free of serious disease—has attracted considerable attention lately in popular media and among scientists engaged in longevity research. It is regularly discussed among all the major stakeholders of life science and is the North Star for much of the research in biotechnology, data science and AI, wellness, nutrition, mental health and other disciplines aimed at tackling age-related disease. It is also a catalyst for renewed conversations among policymakers, economists, sociologists and those tracking the demographic shifts of our global aging population. According to recent projections from the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Americans who are 100 and older is projected to more than quadruple over the next three decades, from an estimated 101,000 in 2024 to about 422,000 in 2054.
It is high time we take healthspan seriously and follow the exciting science that is developing therapeutics to treat, and potentially prevent, the onset and progression of multiple age-related conditions. A healthier, happier and more productive wave of older people will no doubt reshape the world in tremendous ways, and the implications are profound for many facets of society.
Of course, any thorough and evidence-based exploration of this topic must also call out some of the very unscientific concepts, notions and misinformation hindering our true understanding of healthy longevity.
I am thus thrilled to introduce Healthspan: The Science of Aging Well, an exciting new collaboration from Scientific American Custom Media and a coterie of vested supporting partners, including Google, Phenome Health, The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, and Optispan. This special edition and media program explore in depth the next wave of innovation poised to give humanity more productive life years, and it separates fact from fiction, hype from hope. We have contributions from such noted experts as Lee Hood, Scott Penberthy, Matt Kaeberlein, Francesca Duncan and Morgan Levine. Many of the contributors and researchers involved in this project were motivated in part by family members or loved ones whose lives were cut short by disease or made more challenging by the vicissitudes of old age. We are honored to showcase their passion for the topic and their vision for a healthier world.
Just as the factors driving longer lifespans were diverse and multidisciplinary (better informed individual lifestyle choices, new therapies, preventive medicine, policies supporting public health), so will be the solutions for longer healthspans. They will no doubt include debates on how funding priorities should be organized and what research should be supported, but they will also include philosophical questions such as “What makes for a purposeful, productive or happy existence?” We welcome such dialogue and hope that it sparks interest from an array of health-interested audiences from all parts of the world.
The desire for better health, for ourselves and for our loved ones, is a powerful unifying force in a world that in so many ways remains divided. Good health is a gift. We can all be champions of the science and policy that drive it forward, so we can each live as productively and meaningfully for as long as we can, and in our own way.
After all, for some, life is a bowl of cherries; for others, a bowl of delectable homemade cavatelli.
Explore the emerging science of healthspan in other stories in this special report.
