Are interconnected diseases with metabolic roots the next target for chronic disease?
‘Metabesity’ is a term coined by G Alexander Fleming MD to reference the constellation of interconnected diseases with metabolic roots. Targeting these metabolic underpinnings could be a productive approach to delaying, or even preventing, many or most of the chronic diseases of aging.
Our metabolism is comprised of biochemical reactions that keep us alive and work together in a coordinated manner that maintains good health, but as metabolic coordination disintegrates, we start to age. Pair the disintegration with overnutrition and a sedentary lifestyle, and aging becomes the largest risk factor for the majority of chronic, non-communicable diseases.
Metabesity encompasses most of the major chronic diseases of our time. Conditions such as diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases have metabolic roots, and may therefore be susceptible to common solutions. Aging itself can be characterised largely as a dismetabolic condition. For example, a common sign of Metabolic discoordination is the build-up of excess visceral fat, which has been found to add to the presence of senescent cells which contribute to aging. The build-up can also cause chronic inflammation and increase the risk of age-related diseases.
“The US needs to declare the prevention of chronic disease and extension of healthspan a bipartisan national priority and seek to become a global leader in promoting interventions to increase healthy longevity…”
But how do we tackle this new target of aging? According to the Aging Analytics Agency, the key may be in preventing the chronic diseases in the first place. Early intervention against the right targets could lessen the pressure on the health system and improve healthspan. Promising technology like AI in the forefront of Longevity could usher in the age of precision medicine, which could in turn bring about more effective treatment and prevention.
In a recent report the Aging Analytics Agency explores how targeting Metabesity and working towards preventive medicine may be the answer to tackling aging-related diseases. The report reveals new data that suggests that human health is compromised more thoroughly by metabolic conditions than previously believed, as it was considered to be only important in cardiovascular health.
“Promising technology like AI in the forefront of Longevity could usher in the age of precision medicine…”
Their latest report teaser highlights the discrepancy between the USA’s health expenditures and its low ranking on the Health-Adjusted Life Expectancy (HALE) relative to other advanced economies. Could the barriers to tackling Metabesity in the US be government policies or current healthcare frameworks?
The AAA has partnered with the Targeting Metabesity 2019 conference on 15-16th October in Washington, DC, which will assemble a stellar roster of leaders from government, science and medicine, industry and finance, including an enriched collection of top leaders in geroscience to discuss the emerging science, challenges and opportunities in translating such science into material, accessible gains in healthspan and increasing lifespan.
Conference Co-chair Stanford Professor Lawrence Steinman, MD, a co-discoverer of the multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri, stated that: “The US needs to declare the prevention of chronic disease and extension of healthspan a bipartisan national priority and seek to become a global leader in promoting interventions to increase healthy longevity. The resulting ‘longevity dividend’ will be a triple win for our growing elderly, taxpayers and our economy.”
