Getting old used to be something that “just happened.” It wasn’t questioned, because it was a fact of life. It may have been a fact that few people enjoyed, but it simply happened, just like the sun rises and sets each day. Many poems have been written about age, and about the benefits of experience versus the detriments of aches, pains, diseases, and mental and physical decline. 
As the cliché goes: “youth is wasted on the young,” and it seemed so unfair that once you have the wisdom to really understand and enjoy life the way you want to, you no longer have the energy.
Society passed through a rebellious stage—an adolescence if you will—regarding our attitude towards aging. We were defiant, spending millions of dollars a year on creams and drugs and surgeries that all aimed to prolong youth as long as possible. If we looked young, we couldn’t possibly be old. Our obsession with looks gave us 60 year olds that looked, not like 30 years olds, but like 60 year olds with skin stretched tightly over facial bones; dyed hair hid the facelift scars. We decided that anyone who looked older than 29 was no longer attractive, and we all tried to dismiss aging (and eventually death) by making sure that what we saw in the mirror did not reflect reality.
Eventually we realized the error of our ways. Looking like you’re 30 doesn’t do you any good if you can’t participate in the activities you enjoy due to arthritis, heart conditions, frail muscles, or Alzheimer’s disease. Aging, (both the mental and physical aspects of it) has been reclassified as a disease.
This classification is up for some debate. Some people still believe that aging is a normal part of life we ought to accept, if not embrace, and it’s only being classified as a disease because we all so desperately wish for a cure. This viewpoint states that considering aging as a disease gives us hope that we can avoid it. Others do not reflect so much on the disease model itself as on the effect it has—are we redefining a large part of the population as “sick,” and therefore deserving of pity? What about the people who are truly accepting of aging, and of being old? Is there something wrong with them that they don’t mind being diseased, and aren’t jumping to find a cure?
Anti aging has become a medical concern. Doctors test every possible factor, and prescribe hormonal rebalancing treatments alongside diet and exercise. Many people who sign up for a full anti aging regimen say they have never felt better. They look good, they feel good, and they plan to keep enjoying their lives to the fullest until they die. Critics of anti aging products and methods have accused proponents of vanity and argued that they are interfering with nature. If aging and its related discomforts are diseases, as science may be beginning to show that they are, anti aging techniques no more interfere with nature than giving insulin to a person with diabetes does. It has always been the job of the medical profession to reduce suffering and improve the quality of life, and many aged people do suffer.
Under the supervision of a qualified doctor, hormone therapies can turn back the clock in the body, restoring youthful energy, muscle tone, and vigor. These are not miracle “cures” or medicines—they must be used as part of a regimen including a healthy diet and exercise tailored to your body’s needs.
No one can pop a pill and look twenty years younger, but people who adopt a healthy, preventative lifestyle at a young age and maintain it can look to be in their 40s when they are really in their 60s. One only has to watch a Hollywood movie or open a tabloid to see many examples that illustrate how preventative measures can keep us looking and feeling young. Movie stars who stay hydrated, avoid the sun, and refuse to ingest chemicals in their food keep beautiful skin into their 50s, 60s, and beyond. Action heroes who practice martial arts for several hours a day can perform high kicks in their 60s that most 20 year old men wouldn’t be able to manage. This kind of beauty and stamina are within reach of most of us if we really want it.
Perhaps the most important part of the disease model is how it gives us control of our lives back. We don’t have to sit and passively wait for your joints to stiffen, muscles to atrophy, and brains to turn to mush. We do not have to slow down, stop having fun, and wait for Death to come knocking. We can prevent aging by taking an active role in our own health, and we can lengthen our healthy years on this earth if we decide to. The “aging as inevitable” model makes us victims of Time, who is out to slay us all with his handyman Death, but the disease model empowers us. We can choose what we want out of life. There will always be those who prefer to live fast and die young, but more and more people want to live healthy and die—not old, but with many years of powerful youth behind them.
As technology improves, fewer and fewer people will have to succumb to aging. Those that do will have chosen such a lifestyle freely. Others will strive to attain a true agelessness, where their activities are not constrained by societal ideals of what you are supposed to do once you reach certain artificial periods of your life. Why shouldn’t you fun a full marathon at the age of 80? Or join MENSA? Anti aging procedures as a cure for disease will hopefully give everyone that choice.
That’s right. The concerns about aging should not be limited to looking young. Looking like you have not aged at all would mean nothing if you can’t participate to many activities due to your failing health. Your anti-aging defense plan should include strengthening your mind and body as well to keep it from aging, so to speak.
i rily wnt 2 try evry approach dat cud help slow down d aging process. wud taking multivitamins and herbal supplements help? pls, i need sum advice re my vitamins intake. wil dey ac2lly help? if nt, wat can?