Medical research into methods to stop or even reverse aging has also sparked debate about whether the aging process can be described as a disease. This puts aging in the same league as cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.
How is aging defined?
In order to get closer to the answer to the question in the title, it helps to take a closer look at the definition of illness. The Pschyrembel describes illness as "a disturbance of the vital processes in organs or in the entire organism with the consequence of subjectively perceived and/or objectively ascertainable physical, mental or emotional changes. Illness is distinguished from a state of well-being without an objective medical cause." In short: illness therefore requires an identifiable cause. An example: In type 2 diabetes mellitus, colloquially also known as adult-onset diabetes, the cause is insulin resistance in the cells. Insulin is a hormone that is produced in the pancreas and lowers the blood sugar level. It ensures that glucose (the sugar from our food) is transported from the blood to muscle cells, for example, so that they can provide energy for our daily movement. In type 2 diabetes, the cells react less well to insulin - the blood sugar level remains high. Various secondary diseases develop as a result of this condition.
The traditional view: ageing is not a disease
Against the background of an identifiable cause, the traditional camp takes a position. Proponents of this view differentiate between organ disorders (and those that affect the entire organism) and the aging process. For the renowned aging researcher Prof. Andreas Kruse, aging is a "natural, irreversible change in living matter". When a natural threshold is reached, life ceases, sometimes even without any visible illness. Even if there is a loose connection between age and increasing disease risks, age and illness are two different things. Biology sometimes shares this approach. Here, getting older is a process or the consequences of the wear and tear of living matter over time. This process sooner or later leads to the inability to survive, in other words to death. "From a biological point of view, aging is a degenerative process, as is also emphasized in this definition," says Dr. Hildegard Mack, researcher at the Research Institute for Biomedical Aging Research at the University of Innsbruck in a podcast.
The modern view: ageing is a disease
If the definition of disease requires curability, then any means of slowing, stopping or even reversing aging would support the opposite position. Supporters of this modern view believe that aging is a problem that needs to be solved. This position is based on the idea that humans are fundamentally repairable. It involves treating changes at the cellular and molecular level, on the basis of which numerous age-related diseases develop.
One example of this is UV rays, which cause double-strand breaks in DNA. To put it more clearly: DNA is something like the blueprint for the body - if certain pages are missing, the whole book sometimes makes no sense. The body can repair such changes better at a young age than in later stages of life. These and many other processes are responsible for completely normal aging, but can also contribute to the development of chronic diseases. If old age could be treated, it would be conceivable to prevent a whole range of life-limiting diseases. Two birds with one stone - a great promise, the possibility of which research has yet to explore with such clarity.
From lifespan to healthspan
Critics say that classifying old age as a disease is a pathologizing of a natural process. Instead of treating a disease, one could also talk about disease prevention or the effort to maintain health. A change of perspective has a horizon-broadening effect here. While some time ago it was the efforts of immortality visionaries to extend life to 130 years and more, researchers have now moved away from this. The so-called health spanners gradually displaced the immortalists. The new goal is to reach the same age, but fitter, more vital, healthier and more self-determined. If this then potentially leads to an extension of life, that is a welcome side effect.
All in all, both camps present logical and understandable arguments. This is also the reason why, objectively speaking, it is not possible to draw a clear trend in one direction. And we don't have to. It is much more important to use time and resources for research in order to open up opportunities to support the pursuit of healing and long-term health with new knowledge. Regardless of whether the motivation is a single disease or aging in general.
Sources
Podcast UIBK https://www.uibk.ac.at/podcast/zeit/sendungen/transkripte/zfw_041/
World Report on Ageing and Health (WHO) https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/186468/WHO_FWC_ALC_15.01_ger.pdf
Specht, J., Egloff, B., & Schmukle, S. C. (2011). Stability and change of personality across the life course: The impact of age and major life events on mean-level and rank-order stability of the Big Five.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 862-882. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-18537-001
Gerstorf, D., Hoppmann, CA, Löckenhoff, CE, Infurna, FJ, Schupp, J., Wagner, GG, & Ram, N. (2016). Terminal decline in well-being: The role of social orientation. Psychology and Aging,31(2), 149. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4784110/
Kruse, A. (2017). Old age: vulnerability and maturity.Springer-Verlag. https://www.pschyrembel.de/Krankheit/K0C8J
graphics
The graphics were purchased under license from Canva.
