In three years, a new International Statistical Classifier of Diseases and Related Health Problems will enter into force, in which the aging process may be determined by a modified characteristic. Age-related degradation was proposed to be officially considered a disease that, most likely, doctors will be able to successfully treat.
Medical specialists from Insilico Medicine suggested defining the aging process of a person as a disease - this innovation is reported in a publication posted on the pages of Frontiers in Genetics. In this regard, the head of the company, Alex Zhavoronkov, came up with the idea to correct the official definition of aging.
Recall that at present in the scientific world it is generally accepted that the aging of the human body is a complex phenomenon, expressed in the gradual degradation of body organs and the consequences of this very degradation. Such a definition is governed by the International Statistical Classifier of Diseases and Health Problems. However, medical professionals believe that in the new registry, which will begin in 2018, aging should be designated as a disease.
According to the authors of the idea, the process of human aging is unique - being mammals, people with aging exhibit symptoms that are inherent only to them and to no one else in the world of wildlife. For example, only humans have a slow loss of mental faculties.
The perception of aging as a disease actualizes the need to search for the most effective methods for its treatment, experts emphasize. “Such a step will help to take a fresh look at the creation of anti-aging drugs,” Zhavoronkov quotes the journal Frontiers in Genetics.
Note that representatives of science have defended the theory that the aging process is precisely a disease before. According to many scientists, a healthy lifestyle and timely prevention of ailments are only partial measures to preserve health, capable of giving people an additional 10-15 years of life, while scientific methods can extend life by 50-100 years. The recognition of aging as a disease will contribute to the formation of a social order for scientific research aimed at studying the aging processes and overcoming them - this can lead humanity to a completely new stage of its existence.
Olga Borisova
