Demographic shifts in population age pyramids mean that older adults now outnumber young people in many developed nations. Poor health associated with older age presents significant challenges to individuals and societies, not least in spiralling health care costs. Advances in scientific understanding of biological processes that change with age have led to the identification of core hallmarks of ageing, including cell senescence and dysregulated nutrient sensing, that represent new therapeutic targets. Drugs developed to target these hallmarks, such as senolytic and senomodifying agents as well as mTOR inhibitors, have been shown to improve later life health in experimental models. Results from early-stage clinical trials suggest that these therapeutic approaches will be applicable to ageing humans, with significant potential to improve later life health. Investments into effective biomedical interventions targeted to ageing processes are likely to give very high yields, especially since clinical adoption of treatments for (or even prevention of) age-related diseases is possible within the next decade.

人口年龄金字塔的人口变化意味着现在许多发达国家的老年人数量超过了年轻人。与老龄化相关的健康状况不佳给个人和社会带来了重大挑战，尤其是医疗保健成本不断攀升。对随年龄变化的生物过程的科学理解的进步导致了衰老的核心标志的识别，包括细胞衰老和营养感应失调，它们代表了新的治疗靶点。针对这些标志而开发的药物，例如衰老抑制剂和衰老修饰剂以及 mTOR 抑制剂，已被证明可以在实验模型中改善晚年的健康状况。早期临床试验的结果表明，这些治疗方法将适用于老年人，具有改善晚年健康的巨大潜力。对针对衰老过程的有效生物医学干预措施的投资可能会产生非常高的收益，特别是因为在未来十年内，临床采用治疗（甚至预防）与年龄相关的疾病是可能的。