Anti-ageing drugs

Since the theory of ageing as a process in which oxidative stress led to accumulation of damage of the cellular environment over time, first proposed by Harman (1956), we have seen an exponential expansion in our understanding of the ageing process.

Many advances have contributed to our understanding of the ageing process and how to mitigate its effects. Some important milestones have led to a leap in our understanding and these are briefly discussed below. A more expansive explanation of an area that will no doubt lead to the bench-to-bedside transition that we seek as clinicians is provided by Kirkwood and Austad (2000) and by López-Otín et al. (2013).

Anti-ageing medicine will be a defining area both in mainstream medicine and medical aesthetics as we see more developments over the coming decade, with an estimated doubling of the valuation of this area in terms of revenue from $22.5 to $44.5 billion USD.