Nonetheless, and despite many studies on aging, this subject remains poorly understood [2, 12].
Over the last 7 decades, human lifespan
has steeply increased, which was reflected in the global population – as a result,
the population of individuals over age 60 has increased dramatically from 205 million in 1950 to 1 billion in 2019.
According to a World Health Organization (WHO) prediction, by 2030, individuals over 60 years old will outnumber children younger than 10 years old, and by 2050 the over-60 population will number 2.1 billion [13].
On the one hand, this extended lifespan is a tribute to the technological advances achieved in
the last century, in terms
of health, medicine, sanitation, and education.
On the other hand, such increase of aged populations sets pressure on societies to develop specialized policies and services for the elderly, to reduce the impact of this trend on our communities [13].
The decade of 2020–2030 was termed by the WHO as the “Decade of Healthy Aging”,
with the target of sustainably extending healthspan [14]
. WHO has defined “Healthy Aging” as the possibility
for everyone to be and do what they
value throughout their life. For older adults, this means remaining independent and capable of participating in their daily activities, even if affected by illness [15].
Ref Aging (Albany NY). 2023 Apr 20;15(8):3191–3217. doi: 10.18632/aging.204668
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