Today’s 60 year olds don’t feel as old as a generation ago. New data suggests old age is more of a social construct than an objective biological reality.
Trying to stay forever young? It’s a popular goal: The anti-aging market, valued at $40 billion, is estimated to hit $60 billion by 2032. To stave off old age, people slather on wrinkle cream, pop supplements, and lift weights, among other interventions.
Though aging is often portrayed as a problem to fix, it’s more modifiable than you might think. According to the latest science, there’s no clear biological tipping point marking the transition from midlife to late life, says Eric Verdin, president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California.
“There’s an incredible amount of variability between different people,” says Verdin, who favors using someone’s biological age—which is how old your cells and tissues are—rather than their chronological age, which is the number of years you’ve been alive.
Full article: When does old age begin? Science says later than you might think