Last fall, 99 scientific leaders from 16 countries in the field of aging met with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and called on governments and health organizations worldwide to make research into healthy aging a major priority. (41)
"Extending the duration of physical and mental capacity would permit people to remain in the labor force longer, amass more income and savings, and thereby lessen the effect of shifting demographics on age-based entitlement programs, with a net benefit to national economies," the aging experts say in an open letter.
But it would take a sea change in both thinking and funding, experts say.
It will be difficult, but not impossible. "We've made changes before," says the ILC-USA's Butler. (42)
Seventy years ago this August 2007, the NCI was born. NCI was created by Congress on August 5, 1937, "for the purposes of conducting researches, investigations, experiments, and studies relating to the cause, diagnosis and treatment of cancer; assisting and fostering similar research activities by other agencies, public and private; and promoting the coordination of all such researches and activities and the useful application of their results, with a view to the development and prompt widespread use of the most effective methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer." (43)
It was the first effort of its kind, coming out of a groundswell of demand for the government to focus efforts specifically on combating the killer disease. It led to the creation of many other "institutes" at the NIH.
The NIA was founded at NIH in 1974 to lead research on the biomedical, social and behavioral aspects of the aging process, prevention of disease and disability, and promotion of quality of life for older Americans. (44) It marked the beginning of a shift in focus to look at aging as a whole – not as a disease to be managed, but a state of being to be enhanced.
"About 25 years ago, there wasn't a whole lot to aging research," says NIA's McCormick, "but the government investment [since then] has begun to pay off." (45)
In 1993, NIA formed a network of investigators to identify the genetic and molecular basis of longevity in several animal species and to extend those findings to humans. It's called the Longevity Assurance Gene (LAG) project. The LAG project has identified several genes responsible for aging and has broken them down into categories to be studied. (46)
All this on a budget of just over $1 billion in 2006. (47)
Part of the reason the investment is relatively small is that the work is sometimes esoteric, doesn't have a lot of patient advocacy groups behind it, and is just not very sexy. "It's hard to sell basic research," McCormick says. "It's easier to sell research to prevent autism or prevent or treat Alzheimer's disease because there's something to get a grip on." (48)
But the potential applications of aging research have profound implications for everyone. So where should we start?
For a new $3 billion investment – just one percent of the current Medicare budget – key aging experts propose that aging research can move us closer to the goal of healthier, longer lives for older Americans. (49) Plus, according to a recent article in the journal, The Scientist, we could potentially save millions in future health expenses. Butler and others suggest in the article that one third of the $3 billion go to basic biology, one third to study aging-related diseases in coordination with NIH, one sixth to clinical trials including people 65 and older, and the final sixth go to a national preventive medicine research initiative.
"If we succeed in slowing aging by seven years, the age-specific risk of death, frailty, and disability will be reduced by approximately half at every age. People who reach the age of 50 in the future would have the health profile and disease risk of today's 43 year-old; those aged 60 would resemble current 53-year-olds, and so on." (50)
"Equally important, once achieved, this seven-year delay would yield equal health and longevity benefits for all subsequent generations, much the same way children born in most nations today benefit from the discovery and development of immunizations," the article says. (51)
Perry, who co-authored the article with Butler and others, suggests thinking about the funds from a business perspective. Most companies invest four to five percent of their funds into research and development, and high tech companies invest an average of seven to eight percent. Biotech and life sciences invest up to 10 percent. Just one percent of the Medicare budget is "vastly more than we are spending now," he says. (52)
41. Agingresearch.org [Internet]. Washington: Alliance for Aging Research; [updated 2006 Oct 03; cited 2006 Nov 14]. Available from: http://www.agingresearch.org/longevitydividend/overview.pdf.
42. Butler R [phone interview 2006 Dec 21].
43. Cancer.gov [Internet]. Washington: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health; [cited 2007 Jan 23]. Available from: http://www.cancer.gov/aboutnci/national-cancer-act-1937.
44. Nih.gov [Internet.] Washington: National Institutes of Health; [cited 2007 Jan 23]. Available from: http://www.nih.gov/icd/.
45. McCormick, A [phone interview 2007 Jan 26].
46. McCormick, A. NIA Longevity Research. Briefing for Congress. Washington. 2006 Oct 5.
47. Nih.gov [Internet.] Washington: National Institutes of Health; [cited 2007 Jan 26]. Available from: http://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov/ui/FY%2006%20Appropriation%20Language.pdf.
48. McCormick, A [phone interview 2007 Jan 26].
49. Olshansky SJ, Perry D, Miller RA, Butler RN. In Pursuit of the Longevity Dividend. The Scientist. 2006. 20(3): 28-36.
50. Ibid.
51. Ibid.
52. Perry D [in-person interview 2006 Dec 21].
