Longevity, Magazine

Is ageing a disease?

With medical research into methods to stop or even reverse ageing, the discussion about whether the ageing process can be described as a disease also germinated. This puts ageing in the same league as cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.

How is ageing defined?

To get closer to the answer to the title question, it helps to take a closer look at the definition of disease. The Pschyrembel describes disease 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 spiritual changes. Disease is distinguished from the disturbance of well-being without an objectifiable medical cause." In short, disease requires an identifiable cause. An example: In type 2 diabetes mellitus, colloquially also known as adult-onset diabetes, the insulin resistance of the cells is the cause. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that lowers the blood sugar level. It therefore ensures that glucose (the sugar from our food) is transported from the blood into muscle cells, for example, so that they can provide energy for our daily exercise. In type 2 diabetes, the cells respond less well to insulin - the blood sugar level remains high. Various secondary diseases develop on the basis of this condition.

The traditional view: ageing is not a disease

Against the background of an ascertainable cause, the traditional camp takes a position. Representatives of this view differentiate between organ disorders (and those that affect the whole organism) and the ageing process. For the renowned ageing researcher Prof. Andreas Kruse, ageing is a "natural, irreversible change in the living substance". When a natural threshold is reached, life expires, sometimes even without any visible disease. Even if there is a loose connection between age and increasing risks of disease, age and disease are two different pairs of shoes. Biology sometimes shares this approach. Growing older here 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, i.e. to death. "From a biological point of view, ageing is a degenerative process, as is also emphasised in this definition," says Dr Hildegard Mack, researcher at the Research Institute for Biomedical Ageing Research at the University of Innsbruck, in a podcast.

The modern view: ageing is a disease

If the definition of disease has curability as a prerequisite, then any means to slow, stop or even reverse ageing would support the opposite position. Adherents of this modern view consider ageing to be a problem to be solved. This position is based on the view that human beings are basically repairable. It involves the therapy of changes at the cellular and molecular level, on the basis of which numerous age-associated diseases develop.

One example is UV radiation, which causes DNA double-strand breaks. To put it more graphically: DNA is something like the blueprint for the body - if certain pages are missing, the whole book sometimes makes no sense. Such changes can be better repaired by the body at a young age than at later stages of life. These and many other processes are responsible for normal ageing, but can also contribute to the development of chronic diseases. If age could be treated, then it would consequently be conceivable to prevent a whole complex of life-limiting diseases. Two birds with one stone - a great promise, the possibility of which research must first fathom in such clarity.

From life span to health span

Critics say that classifying age as a disease is a pathologisation of a natural process. However, one can also speak of disease prevention or the endeavour to maintain health instead of disease treatment. A change of perspective has the effect of broadening horizons. While some time ago it was the effort of immortality visionaries to prolong life to 130 years and more, researchers have now moved away from this. The so-called healthspanners gradually supplanted the immortalists. The new resolution is to reach the same age, but fitter, more vital, healthier and more self-determined. If this possibly leads to a prolongation of life, that is a welcome side effect.

All in all, both camps present logical and comprehensible arguments. This is also the reason why, objectively speaking, it is not possible to derive a clear tendency in one direction. Nor do we need to. It is much more important to devote time and resources to research in order to open up opportunities to underpin the pursuit of healing and long health with knowledge. Regardless of whether the drive is a single disease or ageing in general.

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, C. A., Löckenhoff, C. E., Infurna, F. J., Schupp, J., Wagner, G. G., & 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). Life phase of old age: Vulnerability and maturity. Springer-Verlag. https://www.pschyrembel.de/Krankheit/K0C8J

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