Geroscience and the challenges of aging societies

Geroscience and the challenges of aging societiesThe world is aging.With both an increase in longevity and a decrease in fecundity, currently there are more individuals over 65 years of age than children aged <5 years.This is fully uncharted territory for humanity.The process is worldwide.While the process has been slow in more developed societies, it has been extremely rapid in developing ones, causing severe turmoil.In addition to the personal cost in terms of a large and growing number of individuals suffering from diseases, loneliness, neglect, and lack of personal support, aging of the population implies increased costs in health care, as well as a dramatic need for increased resources needed to sustain a growing nonproductive fraction of society.As a result, the traditional view is that this demographic change represents an enormous social, personal, and economic challenge to modern society.