By Phoebe Hall – Brown University –
Now settled into a state-of-the art space that fosters collaboration and discovery, Brown scientists are tackling the emerging field of aging research with the goal of extending healthy longevity.
For most of human history, average life expectancy hovered somewhere around 40 years. People who were generally healthy died suddenly from infections, trauma, malnutrition and plagues. Modern medicine made most of these acute causes of death things of the past — humans now live into their 70s on average, and well into their 80s in many countries. At any given time, there are more than half a million centenarians around the world.
But this longevity has come at a cost. Diseases virtually unknown until the 1800s, which strike at a later, post-reproductive age, are now among humanity’s most common killers: cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, dementia. For too many, the “golden years” can be a long, painful and expensive decline as people succumb to the diseases of aging.
