While longevity medicine opens up new perspectives for preventing age-related diseases, the specialist warns of a worrying trend: the transformation of a complex scientific field into a consumer product. And reminds us of a less spectacular, but essential, truth: the foundations of a long and healthy life remain, above all, profoundly human.
When “longevity” becomes a consumer product
The word is everywhere. In advertisements for food supplements, in wellness podcasts, on Instagram, TikTok or LinkedIn. “Longevity” has become a slogan, almost a commercial label. A development that deeply worries Dr Christophe de Jaeger.
“Currently, we are bombarded with dozens, hundreds of emails and other publications from people speaking about longevity and declaring themselves experts… when they are experts in nothing.”he warns.
The phenomenon reminds him of the explosion of the “anti-aging” market in the early 2000s. Same mechanics, same simplistic promises, same confusion between marketing and medicine.
“Longevity has today become a marketing term that we throw around everywhere, even though there is real science behind this discipline.”insists the doctor.
Because behind this now overused word lies in reality an extremely demanding scientific field. The physiology of aging involves cell biology, endocrinology, nutrition, neurology and even immunology. A complex universe, far from the miracle recipes sold on social networks.
The danger, according to him, goes far beyond simple corporate annoyance. When influencers without medical training promise to “gain ten years of life” thanks to a dietary routine or specific supplementation, they fuel false hopes and sometimes spread hazardous advice.
“When you are not competent in the field in which you proclaim yourself an expert, you give certain advice a value that it does not have. You fool people“, he denounces.
This confusion thrives on a universal anxiety: that of aging. In a society obsessed with performance, youth and self-control, the promise of “mastering” one’s biological age acts as a powerful emotional lever. Even if it means forgetting that science advances slowly, through tests, doubts and successive validations.
A still little-known medical discipline, far from ready-made recipes
For Dr de Jaeger, talking seriously about longevity first requires solid scientific legitimacy. And that starts with medical training.
“Human longevity cannot be left to amateurs or coaches trained in a few weeks. The human body requires strict skills. Being a doctor, pharmacist or biologist is the minimum required to claim to speak on this subject..
But even among health professionals, not all have mastered this emerging discipline. Because longevity medicine does not consist of treating a specific disease: it seeks to understand the deep mechanisms of aging to preserve vital functions for longer.
The specialist describes a field that is still very restricted, requiring a global approach to the human body.
“There are around ten of us in the world who have a real perspective on the subject, to do real work, to understand the phenomena and the richness of the current phenomena.”.
Behind this assertion, there is also the reality of research in full swing. For around twenty years, scientists have been accumulating discoveries on the biological mechanisms involved in aging: chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, DNA alteration, mitochondrial dysfunction and even cellular senescence.
This work nourishes the hope of delaying certain age-related diseases – cancers, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders – rather than that of a fantasized immortality.
But this science remains riddled with uncertainties. Many results observed in the laboratory cannot yet be transposed to humans. And the researchers themselves call for caution in the face of media hype.
In this context, the simplified discourse of certain well-being gurus appears all the more problematic. Because it reduces a complex science to a few habits supposed to solve everything: drinking a particular juice, practicing extreme fasting or swallowing an “anti-aging” pill. However, the reality is much less spectacular.
The real issue: preserving one’s “health capital” throughout life
The good news, however, insists Dr de Jaeger, is that longevity should not be reserved for a wealthy elite capable of financing sophisticated examinations or ultra-personalized programs.
“Today, everyone can have access to better health. Because yes, more longevity means above all better health“.
At the heart of his approach is a simple idea: everyone is born with “health capital”. And this capital can be maintained… or exhausted.
In a society marked by a sedentary lifestyle, chronic stress, lack of sleep and social isolation, this notion takes on particular resonance. Because longevity medicine not only promises to live longer; above all, it seeks to preserve autonomy, energy and quality of life as late as possible.
The doctor thus brushes aside the idea of a miracle shortcut.
“There is no miracle pill that allows you to continue smoking and drinking beer on your couch while hoping to live to be a century old. People, unfortunately, are looking for magic solutions.”.
The truly effective levers have been known for a long time. A suitable diet, regular physical activity, restful sleep, better stress management and maintaining social ties remain the strongest pillars of healthy aging. “All the easy, unambiguous solutions that fall like that are useless.”he recalls.
This reality may seem less attractive than a promise of cell regeneration in capsules. However, it is at the heart of international medical recommendations on healthy aging.
But beyond individual habits, the specialist also foresees a major collective transformation. Because if healthy life expectancy really increases in the decades to come, the entire social organization will have to evolve: work, pensions, prevention, care pathways.
“Increasing human longevity by 30 or 40 years does not simply consist of adding a few years at the end of life, it involves completely rethinking economic organization, work and the very notion of retirement. Tech giants like Google and Amazon are already investing billions of dollars in this quest. This longevity revolution, coupled with that of artificial intelligence, will transform our civilizations within 15 to 20 years.”.
For now, the science of aging is still proceeding cautiously. But one thing already seems certain: aging well will never be a magic formula. It will probably be a fragile balance between medical progress, societal choices and daily attention to our most ordinary health – that which is built, often discreetly, day after day.