What makes a disease a disease? Why isn’t aging, a condition which results in the slow decline of the body, considered a disease? It seems so obvious.
Part of the problem is where to define the line between “good aging” (i.e. development) and “bad aging” (i.e. degeneration)? Looking at the Gompertz curve, one might say the body enters decline after reproductive potential has been reached, but this is still not a hard and fast line.
Another reason why people don’t recognize aging as a disease is because 100% of the population suffers from it. We just need one person with perpetual youth to ignite a massive outcry for an aging cure.
Finally, we need a new word for the disease. “Aging” is too confusing. People associate it with children growing, or with becoming wise and experienced. One could then use “senescence” but that is a biological term. So what then can we use? Senectitudeitis?
Enter Senectitudeitis, a disease characterized by:
- Somatic degeneration
- Wrinkling of the skin
- Macular degeneration
- Muscular degeneration
- Sexual decline
- Increased risk of Cancer
- and the dreaded Gothenburg Syndrome where people come to identify with the disease as being a normal part of life
We can even have a ribbon:
