If one were to judge by splashy headlines alone, it would be easy to imagine that humans are living for longer than ever before. The field of longevity medicine has sparked widespread fascination, spurred on by billionaires spending their vast wealth on experimental treatments in a quest to live forever. Interest in biological age, which denotes the physical rather than chronological age of body and brain, has ramped up, while places with the highest concentration of centenarians have been dubbed “Blue Zones” and studied to determine whether these people hold the key to unlocking eternal life.
However, behind all the cutting-edge epigenetic testing and space-age supplements lies a very different truth. We are not, in fact, living for longer. On the contrary: life expectancy in the UK and other advanced nations across the world is stalling.
