Meta-Age: Breaking the Age Code
THINK META-AGE - not Old Age! Extending midlife for a healthier, longer life - not a slow descent into chronic ageing.
Meta-Age is a timely intervention that aligns with Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, who said sickness need not be an inevitable part of ageing—and calls for policymakers to focus on maximising the time spent in ill health before death.
Meta-Age connects like-minded people who want to share their knowledge and experiences of living a longer, healthier life.
Between 2000 and 2019, life expectancy increased by more than six years, from 66.8 to 73.4 years. Although healthy life expectancy has gone up, this is because the number of people dying has gone down, not because the number of years people live with a disability has gone down. Diabetes increased by over 80%, and Alzheimer's disease doubled between 2000 and 2019.
Meta-Age was born in my late mother's nursing home over 17 years ago. The residents were divided by mobility, and my disabled mother (who died of chronic illnesses) was on the floor for those who needed 24-hour care. On the floor above, everyone was able to take care of themselves. Although my mother was wheelchair-bound, her mind was as sharp as a surgeon's knife.
It got me thinking about what my mother's life would have been if she could have physically prepared for old age and still be as quick-witted and alert as she was at 93.
What if we could slow ageing, the ultimate cause of illness? Ageing is a natural and inevitable process, but how we age differs for everyone. Lack of fitness in middle age increases your risk of dying so much that it is second only to smoking as a cause of early death. Poor fitness and health awareness contribute to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and depression. I believe what we do and how we live to make all the difference.
Meta-Agers are defined by their actions, not by their age. They transform perceptions and inspire positive ageing and longevity. People live longer lives, but they are not necessarily healthier. Age-related diseases wreak havoc on people's health and quality of life as they live longer.
Meta-Agers who have exercised all their lives have defied the ageing process, having younger immunity, muscle mass, mobility, and cholesterol levels. They live a healthy and long life characterised by their activities and interests rather than their age. There is a considerable need for a dynamic that promotes wellness and longevity while connecting businesses with people in their forties, fifties and beyond.
People and governments face substantial problems matching health to a longer lifespan, enabling happier and more productive lives, and reducing ageing populations' societal and economic burdens.
Increases in life expectancy have coincided with a dramatic shift in mortality from chronic diseases and degenerative illnesses, with age-related disorders being the primary cause. Around 80% of the elderly population has at least one chronic condition (cardiovascular disease, cancer, or dementia), and 50% have two or more.
A critical anti-ageing weapon is a sense of purpose to improve your chances of living healthier. In that case, look no further than exercise. It works at the cellular level, even stimulating the microscopic mitochondria that provide the chemical energy within each cell. And that's a fact.
