A New Vision for Healthcare: Addressing Aging Before Disease Begins

Recent discoveries in #aging research reveal a powerful insight: the biological changes that lead to chronic #diseases begin far earlier than most people realize—often in midlife, well before symptoms appear. This early phase offers a valuable opportunity for prevention. As highlighted in a recent editorial by Marco Demaria, Editor-in-Chief of Aging and a researcher at the European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing (ERIBA), University Medical Center Groningen, and the University of Groningen (RUG), the aging process itself – not just the diseases it produces – can and should be a primary focus of healthcare. The Problem with Traditional Medicine While modern healthcare has extended lifespan and improved treatment for many diseases, it tends to be insufficient in addressing the complex needs of aging populations. Older individuals frequently experience multiple chronic conditions simultaneously, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative disorders. This state of multimorbidity complicates care, increases the use of multiple medications, and reduces quality of life. The dominant traditional healthcare system, which typically begins only after symptoms appear, is costly and insufficient for addressing the interconnected nature of these conditions. A New Model for Healthcare: Insights from the Editorial In his recent editorial, “Rethinking healthcare through aging biology,” published in Aging Volume 17, Issue 5, Dr. Demaria outlines a shift from disease-specific treatment to targeting the biological mechanisms of aging itself, a more integrated and forward-looking approach. He presents three evolving healthcare models. Full blog - https://aging-us.org/2025/06/a-new-vision-for-healthcare-addressing-aging-before-disease-begins/ Paper DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206262 Corresponding author - Marco Demaria - m.demaria@umcg.nl Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR-16cjHnQY Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.206262 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Aging - https://www.aging-us.com/subscribe-to-toc-alerts Keywords - aging, healthcare, senolytics, epigenetics, medical education To learn more about the journal, please visit our website at https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us on social media at: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ X - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AgingJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/aging-us.bsky.social Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1X4HQQgegjReaf6Mozn6Mc MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM