What is an anti-aging treatment?

Area of Science:

• Biogerontology
• Translational Research
• Gerontology

Background:

• Biogerontology seeks to understand aging and translate findings into interventions for improved late-life health, termed anti-aging treatments.
• Current understanding of anti-aging treatments often posits a single upstream cause of aging, intervening in which prevents all age-related diseases.
• This conception of a singular aging process remains abstract, contrasting with demonstrable interventions improving healthspan and lifespan in model organisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• Critically assess the common understanding of anti-aging treatments among biogerontologists.
• Propose a new, more pragmatic definition for anti-aging treatments.
• Facilitate translational research by shifting focus to preventative medical practice.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and conceptual analysis of biogerontological research.
• Assessment of current definitions and understanding of "anti-aging treatment".
• Proposal of a revised definition based on demonstrable outcomes and understanding of senescence.

Main Results:

• The concept of a single, upstream cause of aging is an abstraction; interventions demonstrably improve healthspan and lifespan by reducing age-related pathologies.
• Senescence is a complex disease syndrome involving multiple biological mechanisms.
• Treatments extending lifespan likely suppress multiple pathologies, but not necessarily the entire aging process.

Conclusions:

• A pragmatic definition of anti-aging treatment is any preventative approach reducing late-life pathology, recognizing senescence as a disease syndrome.
• This definition encompasses both broad and narrow spectrum preventative approaches.
• Adopting this definition will facilitate translation by emphasizing preventative medical practices and potentially leading to broader spectrum treatments.