Living a long, healthy life, being fit and aging without serious illnesses – a wish of many people. Longevity deals with exactly this topic – growing old healthily. In fact, we have a lot in our own hands to stay mentally and physically fit well into old age. Only about a quarter of life expectancy is genetically determined. Personal lifestyle and environmental influences, on the other hand, have a significantly greater influence on how long we live healthily.
The fact is: people are getting older. The reasons for this global development include modern medical care, new types of medication and technical innovations. There are also more preventive options and increased awareness of a healthier lifestyle.
This development also brings challenges with yourself. Although the lifespan is getting longer and longer, the health span, i.e. the amount of time people can stay healthy and free of disease, is not. People are getting older and older, but they may also be sick for longer.
Medicine is also increasingly concerned with the question of how the health span can be extended in order to live healthily for as long as possible. One focus is a healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and a nutritious diet.
Longevity doesn’t just mean a long life as such, but rather it’s about people staying healthy for longer, about fitness and health into old age and how these aspects can be achieved. The last years of life in particular are often associated with physical and mental decline and serious illnesses. One goal of longevity medicine is to align health span with life span. The latest scientific findings are always included and evaluated.
Longevity medicine deals, among other things, with factors from gerontology (age science), biotechnology, biogerontology, biochemistry as well as artificial intelligence and omics analyzes (immune response to infections).
In addition to nutrition and exercise, longevity medicine deals with subject areas that, based on the latest scientific findings, are relevant for a healthy, happy life and our health – sleep, social contacts, stress reduction, mental health, resilience and protection from environmental toxins or other noxious substances such as alcohol or nicotine and many other areas of life are important here.
Longevity is not a general model for every person – an individual concept can be created for each person depending on previous illnesses, eating and exercise habits and life situation.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for advice!
Dr. Med. Helena Class – Family medicine
