The Future of Antiaging Medicine

The national medical expenses in Japan for the first year of Reiwa (fiscal year 2019) amounted to 44 trillion 3895 billion yen, an increase of 994.6 billion yen, or 2.3%, compared to the previous fiscal year’s 43 trillion 3949 billion yen. The national medical expenses per capita were 351,800 yen, an increase of 8600 yen, or 2.5%, compared to the previous fiscal year’s 343,200 yen. Despite efforts such as the active introduction of generic drugs and the implementation of the late-stage elderly medical care system, the current situation is that medical expenses cannot be suppressed. Therefore, the urgent introduction of preventive medicine has become an issue, and the eradication of metabolic syndrome is considered the first step. There is a need to shift from the traditional disease treatment-centered medical policy, which starts treatment after becoming ill, to a medical policy that can intervene before becoming ill. Antiaging medicine, which focuses on aging, can be considered preventive medicine and is becoming a major trend in medical science that aligns with the current medical policy in our country. Currently, the calorie restriction (CR) hypothesis and the oxidative stress hypothesis are the aging theories for evidence-based antiaging medicine, and various interventions are being carried out based on these. What will this trend look like in the future?