The Future of Aging and Longevity - Flipbook - Page 39
“A true future of aging
cannot be measured only
in years gained. It must be
measured in years lived
with cogni琀椀ve vitality.”
the brain environment in ways that may contribute to
neurodegenera琀椀on. Research like this once seemed
peripheral to Alzheimer’s. Today, it is helping to
incorporate a broader aging framework for the next
wave of therapies.
The next step is to turn this biological
understanding into precision medicine. In cancer,
tailoring treatments to each pa琀椀ent’s disease
biology transformed care. Alzheimer’s must follow
a similar path. The future will depend on measuring
an individual’s biological state, iden琀椀fying drivers of
disease earlier, and matching the right interven琀椀on
to the right person at the right 琀椀me.
This is where aging science, Alzheimer’s science,
and technology are converging. Blood biomarkers,
brain imaging, gene琀椀cs, AI-enabled tools, digital
measures, and other emerging technologies are
making it possible to detect disease earlier and
measure an individual’s underlying biology with
a level of precision that was unimaginable just a
decade ago. The opportunity now is to translate that
knowledge into interven琀椀ons that preserve cogni琀椀ve
health across the lifespan.
That is the long-term goal: preven琀椀on
before Alzheimer’s robs people of memory and
independence. Achieving it will require combining
therapies and lifestyle interven琀椀ons that address
mul琀椀ple drivers of disease, tailored to each
individual.
The past decade has been transforma琀椀onal,
bringing the 昀椀rst disease-modifying Alzheimer’s
drugs, be琀琀er biomarkers, and a broader, more
scien琀椀昀椀cally grounded pipeline. The next decade
must build on that momentum by priori琀椀zing and
personalizing brain health, trea琀椀ng it as central to
healthy aging.
We have seen what focused scien琀椀昀椀c progress
can do. In recent decades, medicine has made major
strides against cancer and heart disease. Now is
the 琀椀me to bring that same urgency to preserving
brain health across the lifespan, with advances in
Alzheimer’s treatments, diagnos琀椀cs, and preven琀椀on
methods leading the way. A true future of aging
cannot be measured only in years gained. It must be
measured in years lived with cogni琀椀ve vitality.
A D ECA D E O F P RO GRE S S , A D ECA D E TO ACT 35
