If someone raised the question of who wants to live longer , practically everyone would raise their hands and sign. However, if the question becomes who wants to be “old”, things change and we would find ourselves in an empty wasteland. Although it is a natural and inevitable part of life, aging continues to be associated with a series of negative values that persist and affect society’s own vision of this side of the coin: loneliness, dependence, deterioration, sadness, death … Even so, world life expectancy continues to rise : in 2040, Spain will be the oldest country with a life expectancy of 85.8 years . This makes it essential for science and governments to join forces and tackle the problem.
With this intention and in the context of Science in Parliament, an initiative that tries to include the studies and research of experts in legislative decisions , professors Francisco Fernández Avilés and Leocadio Rodríguez Mañas met with those who rule the country to raise awareness and guide them on the right path.
Rodríguez Mañas, a doctor at the Getafe University Hospital and a member of the Center for Online Biomedical Research on Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), stated that what worries is not aging but “ how do you get there ” at that moment. Shares the opinion that research, services and care should focus on ensuring that the deterioration of the body and the faculties of people due to age is as low as possible; It is necessary to ensure that human beings reach old age with independence and autonomy .
To this end, experts believe that the best way to tackle the problem is to carry out a total offensive that affects the two large groups that can change the situation: the young and the old. The idea that new generations should be made aware that leading a healthy life and taking care of themselves will help to prolong life and reach the elderly in better conditions is increasingly widespread. Leading a healthy lifestyle, taking care of emotional well-being (an important element in prolonging life expectancy ) and living in a favorable environment are details that can be worked on from a young age.
For the elderly, Fernández Avilés and Rodríguez Mañas argue that it is important to address aspects of the health system such as facilitating centralized access to patient information, improving support and assistance or coordinated treatments, taking into account the socio-economic and geographical context of people (it is not the same to live in a rural environment than in an urban environment) and to encourage activity and volunteering among the elderly. In countries like the United States or the United Kingdom, a large part of the older population collaborates with associations or carries out activities as volunteers that help them to stay physically and mentally active.
The other part of the problem, according to Professor Leocadio Rodríguez, is when care arrives too late and dependency situations arrive without being able to stop them, because ” when a dependency appears it is very difficult to reverse it . Something similar happens, according to Fernández Avilés, with the cases of chronicity that he considers something “comparable to aging” . To prevent these serious cases there are so-called advanced therapies , which seek to improve the conditions of these people and even prevent or minimize their effects and that are getting closer and closer .
Among the different options that teams around the world are developing, we could highlight gene therapies, techniques by which a functional gene is inserted into the cells of a patient to correct a genetic defect caused by a pathology; cell therapy , the introduction of new cells into a tissue to fight disease; gene editing or the creation of functional organs for transplantation.
All these possible solutions need, according to Fernández Avilés, an enhancement of research so that they can be developed and spread to the population without involving a huge expense for them. The doctor and researcher at the General University Hospital Gregorio Marañón and member of the Center for Networked Biomedical Research in Cardiovascular Diseases ( CIBERCV ) gives the example of Japan, a country that ” has made advanced therapies a matter of State ” and has stood one of the world referents of the field.
Without going into issues of politics, economic spending and others, what is evident is that the trend that human society follows is to live longer and longer and that makes it essential that we are prepared to face what the future holds. Immortality seems to remain something of science fiction and it is difficult to believe that we will reach 86 years old feeling like when we were 20, but what we can do is promote behaviors and services that allow us to reach that age in the best possible way . We cannot stop the clock, so we will have to try to take advantage of every second it gives us .
