August 6th, 2026
Anti-aging medicine has long been a small specialty field of practice culturally adjacent to sports medicine, but considerably less rigorous and more derided by the mainstream. The present development of a longevity industry, based on means to slow and reverse aspects of aging conclusively demonstrated in laboratory animals and now slowly making their way towards the clinic, is going to have interesting effects on the field of anti-aging medicine. Over some period of time, anti-aging medicine will become reputable, a field in which physicians manage the delivery of treatments for aging that actually work. The field will swell to become the majority of all medical practice, as the majority of all serious illness and death is age-related.
Initially, this growth and takeover of mainstream medicine will look fairly prosaic, as it will likely occur in advance of the availability of any very impressive therapies. It will be built on lifestyle choice, weight management, and calorie restriction mimetic drugs like rapamycin, and the involvement of governments will be driven primarily by the desire to reduce the burden of ever expanding entitlement spending in an aging population. The really interesting therapies and outcomes will arrive later, finding a system ready and waiting for them. As an example of what this early transition will look like, one might read today's open access position paper on the Italian health system, proposing the changes needed for an effective focus on aging.
