50 reasons you’ll age better than your parents

According to the Human Genome Project’s website, it’s likely that the major genetic factors that lead to common diseases among older people like diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer will be uncovered within the next few years. The next step will be how to “fix” them. “Gene-editing treatments using molecular scissors to repair defects in DNA will become commonplace,” Dr Barnard predicts. In addition, gene therapy may also be able to replace faulty genes with better ones instead of using drugs or surgery to treat disease. “Gene therapy is now emerging from the research laboratory to reach patients with cures unimaginable a few years ago,” Dr Barnard says.

A better understanding of the genetic mutations that cause cancer have led to new drugs to treat the disease, called “targeted cancer therapies.” Unlike traditional chemotherapy, which also attacks healthy cells, targeted therapy can recognise the changes that make cancer cells different, and go after only them. According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, older adults are more susceptible to the side effects of regular chemo, although targeted therapy has some of its own, including diarrhoea and liver problems.

Older people are particularly vulnerable to infection, and the rise of superbugs that couldn’t easily be killed is even more worrisome. But in a major breakthrough, scientists from Northeastern University recently discovered the first new antibiotic in 30 years. Currently in trials, this drug, called teixobactin, could be available in the next five years, and is effective against many common infections like tuberculosis, C. Diff, and staph. In addition, the researchers developed a way to grow natural bacteria from soil in the lab for the first time, opening up possibilities for many new antibiotics in the future.

According to the American Stroke Association, the chance of a stroke nearly doubles every 10 years after age 55. But a new tool for treating stroke-causing clots could be a game-changer. The tool enters a blood vessel via a small catheter and can expand or compress to grab the clot and pull it out. In a study on the device from UCLA, patients (averaging age 67) who were tested with the new device recovered quicker and with few complications than with older methods. “This new device is significantly changing the way we can treat ischemic stroke,” the study’s lead author, neurologist Dr Jeffrey L. Saver, director of the UCLA Stroke Center, said.

Although you might think ultrasounds are only for pregnant women, they’re actually used to spot a wide variety of health issues affecting older people, including cancer and heart problems; they’re also used in the ER. They provide a clear picture of what’s going on inside you right now without any safety risks, but because they have been expensive and bulky historically, they haven’t always being used. That may be changing with portable scanners that transmit wirelessly to a smartphone or tablet. The technology is also being used in the operating room more frequently to give surgeons a better view inside the body.

It’s long been known that the ancient art of meditation can improve your state of mind, but new research is showing that it could actually have anti-aging properties. A study from Harvard compared the cells of women who practiced Loving-Kindness Meditation, which focuses on showing warmth to others, to those of women who don’t meditate. The meditating women had longer telomeres, the “caps” on DNA that protect it from deteriorating. “Who needs expensive face creams when meditation will do the trick?” says Dr Emma Seppala, Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and the author of The Happiness Track says.

One new technique that has revolutionised the operating room is minimally invasive surgery, also known as laparoscopic surgery. “Minimally invasive surgery has revolutionised the practice of surgery in the past several decades,” says Dr Gail Besner, Chief of Paediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Operations that previously required large painful incisions can now be done through several very small incisions that are much less painful.” A study from Johns Hopkins showed that this type of surgery drastically reduces post-surgery complications that could affect your quality of life long term. In addition, it’s much less expensive, leaving patients with more money in their pockets to enjoy their golden years. “Patients that used to stay in the hospital for several days after surgery can now go home much faster – often the same day – after undergoing these minimally invasive procedures,” Dr Besner says. “The incidence of wound infections and scarring after surgery are also reduced with the minimally invasive approach.”

The use of robotic control to help doctors perform operations is also on the rise. “The amazing optics and three-dimensional visualisation, the multiple degrees of rotation and agility associated with the robotic instruments, and the ability to work in deep confined spaces, are distinct advantages of robotic surgery,” Dr Besner says. “Robotic surgery takes the minimally invasive approach to an even higher level.” These improvements, she says, represent a huge step forward for surgical practice. Although doctors are still debating whether robotic surgery is better overall, the American Cancer Society says its advantages for prostate cancer surgery (which are now done 80 to 85 per cent robotically) are more manoeuvrability and precision. And the first-ever robotic procedure on an eye was recently performed, which successfully treated a membrane growth common in older people, and preserved vision with a more precise technique than human hands can do.

What’s better than making small incisions? How about no incisions at all? Called natural orifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES), the technique involves using your natural openings to enter the body with a tube to perform surgery. For example, the Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research (NOSCAR) says the mouth, rectum, vagina, or urethra could be used. Although technically difficult and available only at certain medical centers, NOTES could be the next paradigm shift in surgery, NOSCAR says. According to the Yale School of Medicine, the advantages to this “scarless surgery” is quicker recovery, less pain, and fewer complications like wound infections for procedures like gallbladder removal, which are common in older people.

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If doctors can operate robotically across the room from a patient, why not across the country? Another future innovation to surgery may be the ability to perform procedures remotely, which could improve more elderly patients’ ability to receive high-quality care, especially if they’re located in rural areas or can’t travel. Florida Hospital Nicholson Center conducted experiments that determined such surgery is safe and effective. Logistical and legal considerations, like needing a surgeon on-site in case of emergencies and figuring out who is liable if something should go wrong, would need to be worked out, but experts predict we’re headed in this direction.