As our world ages, the civilization and society we have built upon it are also aging. This well-known fact has been discussed for years.
But do we truly understand its importance?
Is the increasing burden of diseases, which is a direct result of the rising average age, being adequately addressed?
Or, when you think about its impact on productivity, do you realize that this is a societal survival battle?
Have you ever come across a conversation discussing the decline in our sharp intellect and healthy physical capacity, which we will desperately need while fighting global warming and the threat of nuclear war?
Or, while our current friends fear the future of artificial intelligence, have you felt the risk of the human capacity decreasing?
Imagine leading an army with an average age of 90 on an ancient battlefield!
We need to change things.
First, we need to change our perceptions,
Our prejudices.
Our view of 90 years old must change.
Why do we accept a playing field we lose at birth?
We need to change the rules of the game.
And, as always,
Like the equations where we bring energy and matter together,
We must be willing and passionate.
I know the people who run towards this goal.
I am one of them.
Considering the vital importance of this issue, our numbers are very few.
This forms the fundamental purpose of my initiative.
We need to bring this issue higher on the agenda.
We cannot ignore it.
We cannot merely watch the accelerating aging process.
In the new world, it is not easy to motivate couples to have more children.
Many couples are not only hindered by biological barriers. Economic barriers are only part of the problem.
Philosophy is changing. The new reality of the age is changing the positions of the fundamental pillars of our lives.
Less war, less murder has made our daily lives safer.
Still, our greatest fear inside has not changed much in 300,000 years.
The fear of aging in Homo sapiens is in all our genes.
And it is time to face this fear!
An aging society is actually our creation.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this is one of our greatest achievements.
We've been battling microorganisms for much longer than you might think.
As our survival skills and organizations improved, we began to come into contact with more microorganisms for longer periods. This battle, which intensified after the agricultural revolution, has only turned in our favor in the last 200 years.
Looking at the data, the average life expectancy in the Neolithic era was 30, and 10-12 thousand years later, before the industrial age, it was 40.
When the 19th century began, humanity discovered a new power. By harnessing the power of machines, we created an entirely different world.
We were able to partially control the problems of the previous era. Today, infectious diseases, hunger, thirst, childbirth difficulties, murders, and accidents still kill people. But not as much as before.
Of course, while solving problems, we also created new ones such as environmental pollution, smoking, and traffic accidents.
As we emerged from the industrial age, the average life expectancy rose from 40 to 60.
Today, thanks to regulations and legal arrangements, which often have a negative perception, we've taken another step forward.
Here we are now. In developed countries, the age limit has surpassed 80!
Of course, with new problems.
Our new enemies are diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks, strokes, and degenerative brain diseases...
These are the illnesses that fill a typical day in my clinic.
We have countless medications for each of these.
We must remember that our main success in the battle against microorganisms is not the antibiotics we prescribe after we get sick.
It is the hygiene conditions we created and the increased availability of these conditions to the average income group.
Deaths related to air pollution weren't solved by our inhaler medications. We solved it by polluting the air less or moving this pollution away from living areas.
The rapid decline in traffic-related deaths is not due to intensive care conditions and orthopedic surgery success. The real impact came from seat belts, safer cars, and traffic rules.
What I want to say is this: problems are solved by eliminating what causes the problem.
Why should it be different for the diseases we fight in the clinic today?
When we look at the biological foundations of these diseases and their increasing frequency with age, we can see that the main problem is our aging bodies.
So our enemy is clear.
Aging.