Baby boomers and the ageing revolution

Another record beaten, this year there are over 650,000 people in UK alone who will turn 65. There are more over 60 year-olds than under 18 years-olds.

This means that there are lot of people to take care of, but not that many of those who will be young enough to do so.

Demographic changes such as this one will have a great impact on our society, the performance of the economy, the postcode lottery in the NHS and many other aspects of people’s lives.

Linda Partridge from UCL studied mutations of genes which made worms, fruit flies and mice live not only longer but also healthier (especially when older) lives, which can transform our already ageing society further.

At this stage it seems this will be possible with humans. Linda and her team are potentially on the way to discovering a drug that would prevent the disease we will all suffer from: the disease of ageing.  However, living longer and healthier will necessarily mean that people will also have to work longer, so get ready for that.