columnist/ageing well
APRIL, 2018 | The HEALTH
19
Recent innovations
in healthy ageing
A
S the ageing population all
over the world increases, it is
imperative that we find ways
to make sure that they age well
with little disability and disease.
Is this possible? Yes, according to Ray
Kurzweil and Dr Terry Grossman in
their book ‘Fantastic Voyage: Live Long
Enough to Live Forever’.
I
N his book,
Kurzweil defines
what he calls his
three bridges to
immortality.
The “First Bridge”
is the health regimen he describes
with co-author Dr Terry Gross-
man to keep people fit enough
to cross the “Second Bridge”
a biotechnological revolution.
Kurzweil writes that humanity is
on the verge of controlling how
genes express themselves and
ultimately, changing the genes.
With such technology, humanity
could block disease causing genes
and introduce new ones that
would slow or stop the ageing
process. The “Third Bridge” is
Health
issues get
our attention
the moment
clinical disease
strikes but
most people
fail to focus
on prevention
and health
enhancement
in a timely
manner
before the
onset of overt
symptoms.
BY
DATUK DR
RAJBAN SINGH
the nanotechnology and artificial
intelligence revolution, which
Kurzweil predicts will deliver the
nanobots that work like repaving
crews in our bloodstreams and
brains.
These intelligent machines will
destroy disease, rebuild organs and
obliterate known limits on human
intelligence, he believes in the next
20 years.
If all this is going to be true,
than it is even more important
that we take care of our health
now. The knowledge exists, if
aggressively applied, for you to
slow ageing and disease processes
to such a degree that you can be in
good health and good spirits when
the more radical life-extending
and life-enhancing technologies
become available over the next
couple of decades.
Longevity expert and geron-
tologist Aubrey de Grey uses
the metaphor of maintaining a
house to explain this key concept.
How long does a house last? The
answer obviously depends on how
well you take care of it. If you do
nothing, the roof will spring a
leak before long, water and the
elements will invade, and eventu-
ally the house will disintegrate.
But if you proactively take care of
the structure, repair all damage,
confront all dangers, and rebuild
or renovate parts from time to
time using new materials and tech-
nologies, the life of the house can
essentially be extended without
limit. The same holds true for our
bodies and brains.
Right now we are all crossing
the first bridge and a healthy aging
is a concept where someone is
proactively assessed to look at
his biological age and than put on
a regime to maintain his health
and prevent disease. It is preven-
tive medicine in comparison
to symptom control medicine.
Health issues get our attention
the moment clinical disease strikes
but most people fail to focus on
prevention and health enhance-
ment in a timely manner before
the onset of overt symptoms.
As Ray Kurzweil says we have
to maintain our health status and
for every year we live longer the
better our chances of extending
our lifespan.
Whether eventually the human
lifespan will be extended is left to
be seen but I believe that a good
healthy ageing programme will at
least improve our quality of life
and prevent all the degenerative
diseases of ageing and disability
as is often seen in the present
ageing population. I believe that
with our genome already mapped
and using DNA profiling and our
recent knowledge of telomeres and
stem cells we are now entering
the second bridge and soon nano
technology will be here.
The idea is to Live Long, Live
Well.
Datuk Dr Rajbans Singh is a
consultant physician and geriartri-
cian, and healthy ageing specialist
at Beacon Laureate Sdn Bhd. He
is also the president of Malaysian
Wellness Society.
123RF
A good healthy
ageing programme
will at least improve
our quality of life
and prevent all
the degenerative
diseases.