Life expectancy has come to be the gold standard in assessing the health of a population, especially during Covid-19, where the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and others advised the elderly to "shield" for months in isolation. Health services across the industrialised world have kept their citizens alive for longer, often adding more than a decade of life over the last two generations.
But as lifespan – the total number of years someone will be alive – has increased exponentially, healthspan – the part of a person’s life when they are in good health – has largely stayed the same. This creates a huge crisis – a demographic, economic and, above all, a humanitarian one. And it doesn’t have to be this way.
Unhealthy ageing is a human tragedy. If governments and health authorities can focus on healthspans, not just lifespans, longevity technology can remedy it. Looking and feeling younger for longer is not the preserve of beauty brands or Silicon Valley billionaires. The science is real. It just needs investment, a favourable regulatory environment and health policies that are as focused on allowing people to live as much, rather than just keeping them alive.
The quality of life is just as, if not more important, than the length of life
The adverse health effects of ageing, just like high cholesterol or high blood pressure, is a risk factor for a variety of diseases. This means ageing should be treated the same way as any other risk factor – that is, something to be treated and reduced. Health policy, however, has not always caught up with the science. Ageing is not an inevitable part of life that must be accepted. It is a technical problem that can and should be overcome.
It is no mystery that some individuals age better (healthier) than others. Now we know why: In 2006, the stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka identified four key proteins that seemed to turn the clock back on the ageing of cells, otherwise known as the "Yamanaka factors". This discovery was so profound that it led him to win the Nobel Prize. It has been hailed by some as the most important advancement since Francis Crick’s discovery of the Double Helix.
But those discoveries haven’t always found their way into health policy. "Bio-conservatives" have resisted the notion of dramatically tampering with the ageing process, with some describing it as nothing more than billionaires' bid to buy their way out life’s only certainty: death.
This misses the point. Every new medical discovery is seen by some as "playing God", until the meaning of playing God becomes simply "being an effective Doctor". No one is saying that we should aim to live forever. And we can all agree that human life is sacred and should be preserved. But the quality of life is just as, if not more important, than the length of life.
This is something medics, investors, policymakers and the public should support because poorly managed ageing is a huge drain on global healthcare systems and economies. According to the World Health Organisation, the number of people aged 65 or older is projected to grow from more than 524 million in 2010 to nearly 1.5 billion in 2050.
If those people are economically inactive and hugely dependent on a constant stream of expensive medical procedures, economies will collapse. That strain is already huge. According to a report in the US by the Congressional Budget Office, the US Federal government spent 40 per cent of its budget, a total of $1.5 trillion, on elderly care in 2018. The same report predicts that by 2029, over half of Federal healthcare spend, approximately $3bn, will be spent on elderly care.
When populations grow older and the age of a society becomes an inverted pyramid, older people become increasingly dependent on a shrinking working-age population. That means higher spending and taxes for the young, which disincentivises them from working. The downward spiral caused by the symptoms of ageing is something that must be avoided at all costs.
Beyond the demographic and economic statistics lies human tragedy. Ageing and its associated diseases force children to watch their parents and grandparents slowly lose their independence. People who have worked their entire lives are robbed of the opportunity to enjoy their hard-earned retirement – or to keep working. A couple can be robbed of their relationship if one of them is lucky enough to have the "good ageing gene" and the other isn’t.
Regulators, healthcare providers and investors must work today to close the gap between healthspan and lifespan. While the average human lifespan has increased from 47 to 73 in seven decades, the gap between healthspan and lifespan is growing. It is predicted that the average global healthspan-lifespan gap is approximately nine years. Living for more than 10 per cent of our lives in relative suffering should be consigned to the past.
Health, as the WHO defines it, is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This definition should serve as a north star. Regulatory bodies like the FDA should create an accommodating environment for anti-ageing patents, including gene therapies, to be developed and licensed.
Similarly, healthcare providers should also look to partner with private longevity providers to get the leading products onto market if we are to have a fighting chance at closing the healthspan-lifespan disparity.
This thinking is already there: The UK’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence decides which medicines to fund based on how many "quality life years" they will create.
It is time to set the bar for quality of life much higher, based on the best science available.
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)
Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)
Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)
Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The%20specs
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 3
Sadio Man 28'
Andrew Robertson 34'
Diogo Jota 88'
Arsenal 1
Lacazette 25'
Man of the match
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
ENGLAND%20SQUAD
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A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
The specs
A4 35 TFSI
Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed S-tronic automatic
Power: 150bhp
Torque: 270Nm
Price: Dh150,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
A4 S4 TDI
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 350bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh165,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
RESULT
Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
