Coupled with a lack of sufficient prevention strategies and clinical interventions for age-related diseases, the enormous growth of the elderly population poses a significant socioeconomic and healthcare challenge worldwide. With life expectancy rising across the globe – save for the short-term declines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – more patients are expected to suffer from disease and disability in later life and for more years than before.
As a result, the focus of medicine is expanding to include not just the treatment of acute or chronic illness but also the long-term maintenance of health. The development of modalities for reducing age-associated morbidities and disabilities has become a primary target for investment and innovation in the scientific field.
