Geroscience: just another name or is there more to it?

The widespread use of the name 'geroscience' in the science of aging is sometimes met with a wary attitude by biogerontologists other than its inventors. Here, we provide an overview of its origin and evolution to assess what exactly it is and to discuss its theoretical and biological relationship to earlier movements of anti-aging medicine and biogerontology more generally. Geroscience posits that targeting aging may offer a cost-effective approach to improve late-life health in humans, and because aging is malleable in model organisms and what regulates this is sufficiently understood, the time is ripe for moving forward to translational and clinical research. The geroscience agenda has rebranded imagery of past traditions, yet the claim that therapies for human aging are ready or within the imminent future is contestable and on brand with tradition, even if biogerontology has made great progress in the past decades.

Insights into the Anti-Aging Prevention and Diagnostic Medicine and Healthcare.

Aging is an irreversible and natural phenomenon that occurs as a person ages. Anti-aging medicine applies advanced science and medical technology to early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunctions, disorders, and diseases. Therefore, anti-aging diagnostic medicine and healthcare are important factors in helping the elderly population lead healthy and active lives. However, it is challenging to diagnose various aging and related diseases accurately through various forms of anti-aging diagnostic medicine and health management. It may not be treated appropriately, so many older people are making various efforts to prevent aging themselves in advance. Therefore, anti-aging medicine and health care have been developed in various forms, from health checkups to alternative medicine and biophysical technology beyond simple clinical medicine, and are being applied to demand the needs of the elderly. This review intends to explore and characterize various applications related to anti-aging medicine and healthcare in the elderly. In addition, economic, medical, and ethical considerations arising from the relationship between the increase in the elderly population and the continuous development of anti-aging medicine can be considered.

Mammal Aging is Controlled by an Evolvability-Based Adaptive Program.

As recently as in 2002 gerontologists widely thought that an aging program that purposely caused aging in mammals was impossible and therefore scientifically ridiculous because it violated widely accepted concepts regarding the nature of the evolution process. However, a number of modern evolutionary mechanics concepts such as group selection and evolvability suggest that an individually adverse trait like aging can evolve if it creates an advantage (reduced probability of extinction) for a population. Genetics discoveries suggest that aging creates multiple population advantages and, therefore, aging programs that purposely cause and regulate aging evolved in mammals. This led to various concepts regarding the nature of the program. One such concept is that aging is a completely genetically specified function of age, essentially a biological clock. However, this article presents evidence and theoretical basis for the idea that the programmed aging function is controlled by an adaptive mechanism that can sense local or temporary conditions that affect the optimum aging function and adjust it to compensate for those conditions. This issue is important for medical research because the sensing mechanisms and associated signaling provide additional points at which intervention in the aging process and associated highly age-related diseases could be attempted.

Envelhecimento ativo e a indústria da perfeição / Active ageing and the culture of perfection

Resumo Nas últimas duas décadas, o envelhecimento ativo adquiriu expressão relevante enquanto paradigma de políticas públicas para fazer face aos desafios colocados pelo envelhecimento demográfico. Definido, primeiramente pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS), de forma a enfatizar a responsabilidade da sociedade no seu conjunto relativamente à qualidade de vida ao longo do processo de envelhecimento, o paradigma do envelhecimento ativo, atualmente, tem vindo a concentrar-se, sobretudo, no adiamento da idade da reforma e na redução dos custos com a saúde nos últimos anos de vida, a partir de uma lógica de responsabilização individual. Para a elaboração deste artigo, foram consultados vários sítios on-line de clínicas médicas portuguesas nas quais se praticam consultas/tratamentos de medicina antienvelhecimento, analisando os anúncios publicitários dos serviços prestados, bem como artigos de opinião redigidos pelos próprios médicos dessa especialidade, dirigidos a um público leigo. Conclui-se que, a par da responsabilização individual pela saúde e, de forma mais geral, pela forma como se envelhece, assistimos hoje à expansão de um amplo mercado de produtos e serviços antienvelhecimento que nos permitem argumentar que o ideal de envelhecimento ativo poderá estar ao serviço de uma indústria da perfeição.

Abstract In the last two decades, Active Ageing acquired significant importance in scientific and political forums as a new paradigm of public policies to meet challenges posed by the ageing population. Defined by the WHO as to emphasize society's responsibility regarding quality of life as people age, the Active Ageing paradigm represents, nowadays, a progressive narrowing of action scope and accountability. In recent years, assuming the logic of individual accountability, it serves as basis for the accusation of individual negligence in not adopting a healthy lifestyle. This study analyses the websites of several Portuguese medical clinics specialized in anti-ageing medicine, where one can find advertisements of the services provided, and, in some cases, opinion articles drawn up by doctors of this medical specialty, for a lay audience. Considering the increasing international dimension of the aesthetic and hormonal enhancement biotechnologies market, the ideal of Active ageing can, today, be at the service of the culture of perfection.

Hormônios e o "aprimoramento natural" do corpo: a personalização do processo de envelhecimento na medicina anti-aging / Hormones and "natural enhancement" of the body: personalized aging in anti-aging medicine

Resumo Este artigo discute o papel das terapias hormonais na construção de uma narrativa da saúde para a longevidade da medicina anti-aging. O objetivo é identificar o significado dos hormônios na constituição de um processo de aprimoramento do corpo para manter suas funções naturais e possibilitar a personalização do envelhecimento. A análise é parte da pesquisa realizada no Brasil com médicos praticantes, pacientes e médicos críticos, membros do Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM), por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas e observação em campo. Discute-se o estabelecimento de uma rede internacional de profissionais e instituições que viabiliza a expansão das práticas anti-aging em um contexto institucional desfavorável. Na proposição de uma abordagem holística do envelhecimento, a medicina anti-aging se concentra não em doenças típicas da velhice, mas no aprimoramento das condições de saúde ao longo da vida. Considerados "combustíveis" da vida, os hormônios se destacam como elementos de integração entre a particularidade dos pacientes e a generalidade do processo natural de envelhecimento, fortalecendo uma perspectiva de aprimoramento natural, com recursos do próprio corpo. A modulação com hormônios bioidênticos é contraposta à hegemonia da indústria farmacêutica em uma narrativa que altera as fronteiras entre terapia e aprimoramento, natural e artificial, tratamento e estilo de vida.

Abstract This article discusses the role of hormonal therapies in the narrative concerning longevity present in anti-aging medicine. The objective is identifying the meaning that hormones have in the body enhancement process aimed to preserve natural functions and enable the personalization of aging. This analysis is part of a study conducted in Brazil with practitioners of anti-aging medicine, patients and objector members of the Brazilian Council of Medicine, by means of semi-structured interviews and fieldwork observation. The discussion addresses the formation of an international network of professionals and institutions supporting anti-aging practices in a disadvantageous institutional context in Brazil. Anti-aging medicine proposes a holistic approach to aging and focuses on enhancing health conditions throughout the patient's life instead of targeting aging-related diseases. Hormones are considered "fuel" for life processes and conceived as elements that can integrate the particularity of each patient and the general aspect of natural tendencies in the aging process. That perspective strengthens the conception of natural enhancement, using the body's own resources. Bioidentical hormone modulation contrasts with the pharmaceutical industry in a narrative that alters the boundaries between therapy and enhancement, natural and artificial, treatment and lifestyle.

[The marketing of anti-aging services in aesthetic medicine].

The article defines the main trends of the market of medical anti-aging services and prospects of aesthetic medicine. The paper presents the data of research on the impact of contextual advertising in social networks on the decision of patients of middle and retirement age on the use of anti-aging cosmetology and treatment for the provision of cosmetic services of an aesthetic nature. The article presents the analysis of the main options of Internet advertising of a medical nature for anti-aging subjects, in addition, describes the methodology that is developed for commercial medical organizations, and analysis of anti-aging medical procedures in the aspect of aesthetic medicine and the search for the necessary information on anti-aging medicine in social networks. The article draws an important conclusion that an important factor affecting the medical market of aesthetic medicine services is the decrease in consumer activity and solvency of the population, which requires a revision of the price and assortment policy of clinics. The article demonstrates the results of obtaining valuable data on popular requests and effective advertising sources, conversion into circulation from different advertising channels and from different devices, the activity of consumers of medical aesthetic services during the week and day. Special attention was paid to the advertising of anti-aging aesthetic medicine in social networks.

[Recommendations of the polish society of aesthetic and anti-aging medicine concerning the application of fillers in difficult areas: eye, glabella and temple].

Aesthetic medicine is a dynamically developing field of medicine and filling techniques are currently an important and widely used procedure in modern therapeutic methods of facial rejuvenation. The aim of the PTMEiAA Recommendation is to improve patient safety, standardize procedures performed in aesthetic medicine and define minimum quality requirements during individual procedures. This is particularly important in the situation where there are more and more reports of the performance of treatments by unauthorized persons in places that do not meet the sanitary and epidemiological requirements to provide health services. The present study concerns the use of fillers in difficult facial areas: around the eye, glabella and temples.

Are We Ill Because We Age?

Growing elderly populations, sometimes referred to as gray (or silver) tsunami, are an increasingly serious health and socioeconomic concern for modern societies. Science has made tremendous progress in the understanding of aging itself, which has helped medicine to extend life expectancies. With the increase of the life expectancy, the incidence of chronic age-related diseases (ARDs) has also increased. A new approach trying to solve this problem is the concept of geroscience. This concept implies that the aging process itself is the common cause of all ARDs. The corollary and consequence of such thinking is that we can and should treat aging itself as a disease. How to translate this into the medical practice is a big challenge, but if we consider aging as a disease the problem is solved. However, as there is no common definition of what aging is, what its causes are, why it occurs, and what should be the target(s) for interventions, it is impossible to conclude that aging is a disease. On the contrary, aging should be strongly considered not to be a disease and as such should not be treated; nonetheless, aging is likely amenable to optimization of changes/adaptations at an individual level to achieve a better functional healthspan.

Longevity-Promoting Pharmaceuticals: Is it a Time for Implementation?

Recent experimental studies demonstrate that medications targeting aging (antioxidants, calorie restriction mimetics, autophagy inductors, etc.) can substantially promote health and extend lifespan. Pharmacologically targeting aging appears to be more effective in preventing age-related pathology compared with treatments targeted to particular pathologies. The development of new antiaging drugs represents a great opportunity for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

Finding Ponce de Leon's Pill: Challenges in Screening for Anti-Aging Molecules.

Aging is characterized by the progressive accumulation of degenerative changes, culminating in impaired function and increased probability of death. It is the major risk factor for many human pathologies - including cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases - and consequently exerts an enormous social and economic toll. The major goal of aging research is to develop interventions that can delay the onset of multiple age-related diseases and prolong healthy lifespan (healthspan). The observation that enhanced longevity and health can be achieved in model organisms by dietary restriction or simple genetic manipulations has prompted the hunt for chemical compounds that can increase lifespan. Most of the pathways that modulate the rate of aging in mammals have homologs in yeast, flies, and worms, suggesting that initial screening to identify such pharmacological interventions may be possible using invertebrate models. In recent years, several compounds have been identified that can extend lifespan in invertebrates, and even in rodents. Here, we summarize the strategies employed, and the progress made, in identifying compounds capable of extending lifespan in organisms ranging from invertebrates to mice and discuss the formidable challenges in translating this work to human therapies.

Effects of Aqueous Extracts of Codonopsis Radix on MicroRNA Expression Profiling of D-galactose Induced Kidney of Aging Mice / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To explore the effects of aqueous extracts of Codonopsis Radix onD-galactose induced aging model mice; To discuss the anti-aging molecular mechanism of Codonopsis Radix.Methods Subcutaneous injection ofD-galactose solution was used to establish aging models. 100 Kunming mice were divided into normal control group, model group and low-, medium-, high-dose of Codonopsis Radix interventional groups randomly, 20 mice in each group. Low-, medium-, high-dose of Codonopsis Radix interventional groups were given relevant dosage for gavage, while normal control group and model group were given the same volume of NS by gavage for 42 d. After treatment for 42 days, the BUN and CREA in mouse serum were examined; the AffymetrixmiRNA 4.0 microarray was employed to identify the differentially expressed microRNA (miRNA) related with these processes; the bioinformatic tools were also used to further analyze the cluster of miRNA microarrys and the pathways which the target genes of miRNA were involved in.Results Compared with normal control group, the levels of BUN and CREA in mouse serum increased in model group (P<0.05); compared with model group, the levels of BUN and CREA in Low-, medium-, high-dose of Codonopsis Radix interventional groups decreased, in which high-dose of Codonopsis Radix could most significantly inhibit the level of BUN (P<0.05); the cluster analysis showed the miRNA expression profilings of high dose of Codonopsis Radix interventional group and normal control group were brought together, while the profiling of model group was clearly divided with the other groups. In model group vers normal control group, 36 differentiated expressed miRNA showed, which predicated in 10 main biological functions. In high-dose of Codonopsis Radix interventional group vers model group, 34 differentiated expressed miRNAs in high-dose of Codonopsis Radix interventional group showed, and the analytical results of biological functions of target genes were the same as those of model group vers normal control group.Conclusion In the anti-aging process, Codonopsis Radix can not only influence the miRNA expression profiling, but also influence its functional environment.

[Preventive geriatrics vs anti-aging medicine].

The article presents the main modern ideas of the new interdisciplinary direction at the junction of aesthetic medicine, geriatrics and valeology - preventive geriatrics, or the anti-aging medicine. Describes its purpose, namely effective individual programs of prevention of the development and progression of chronic diseases and age-related conditions; the overview of the diagnostic methods used in preventive geriatrics, individualized prevention programs with proven efficacy is given. Substantiates the importance of preventive geriatrics (anti-aging medicine) as a discipline with its own scientific methodological tools, points of application, and presents prospects of scientific study.

Colonization of later life? Laypersons' and users' agency regarding anti-aging medicine in Germany.

Anti-aging medicine is regarded as a significant trend in contemporary Western societies. Foucauldian gerontology provides some of the dominant theoretical perspectives on this trend in social and cultural theory. Proceeding from its interpretation and critique of anti-aging in terms of medicalization and responsibilization of aging, we explore by means of qualitative socio-empirical research how interested laypersons as well as non-professional users in the German context actually perceive of and deal with the medical claims and moral imperatives surrounding anti-aging medicine. The study is based on 12 focus groups and 20 narrative interviews (96 participants all included). They were conducted in Germany between 2011 and 2012, and analyzed by qualitative content analysis as well as comparative sequence analysis. The empirical findings indicate that in everyday life, interested laypersons and non-professional users employ different strategies for dealing with anti-aging products and services, corresponding to different degrees of affirmation and rejection. Four strategies could be identified: (a) medical optimism, (b) preventive maximalism, (c) ritualized well-being, and (d) considerate rejection. Also, each type was problematized and arguments against it were expressed. Overall, these findings show how our participants develop viable strategies to put the relevance of medical knowledge and moral imperatives for their own lives into perspective. This sheds light on laypersons' and users' agency-that is, their active role and deliberative space in the uptake, adaptation, and integration of anti-aging into their personal life. These empirical findings contribute to an enriched picture of the actual practice of anti-aging in concrete national and socio-cultural settings. This can help to differentiate the evaluation and thus make its critique more context sensitive, adequate, and targeted.