There is an emerging economy for people wanting to live longer. Getty Images
There is an emerging economy for people wanting to live longer. Getty Images
There is an emerging economy for people wanting to live longer. Getty Images
There is an emerging economy for people wanting to live longer. Getty Images

Ageing is ‘optional’ amid emerging economy for immortality


Kelsey Warner
  • English
  • Arabic

Ageing is “optional” if certain lifestyle factors can be controlled, and there is an emerging economy for people living longer, the Milken Institute’s Middle East and Africa summit in Abu Dhabi heard on Tuesday.

"We say we are increasing the 'healthspan' not just the lifespan. So people have more years in life but those years are healthier and more productive and fulfilling," Nora Super, director of the Centre for the Future of Ageing at the Milken Institute, told The National.

By 2030, more people worldwide will be over the age of 60 than under 10, according to Milken, a US think tank.

Meanwhile, experiments over the last few years to test the body’s ‘epigenetic clock’, which tracks a person’s biological age, have been shown to slow down or reverse when given certain medications and hormones, or when the test subjects were able to reduce stress through meditation.

The combination of shifting demographics and recent breakthroughs in our understanding of ageing and longevity represent both a massive challenge and opportunity in the 21st century.

Dr Deepak Chopra, founder of the Chopra Centre and a wellness expert, said that over the past two decades, scientists had begun to more widely accept that ageing was more like a disease that can be cured rather than an inevitability.

“No gene has evolved to cause ageing. No one dies of old age,” he said at the conference.

Dr Chopra said the idea of well-being and longevity could be achieved by following seven pillars: sound sleep, meditation, physical activity, emotion moderation, plant-based nutrition, time outdoors and self-awareness.

Through the Chopra Centre, he said he was working to identify biomarkers to measure the effects these practices had on a person’s ageing process.

Dr Chopra is 73 years old but he claims his epigenetic clock is nearly half that after following 30 years of daily meditation and walking at least 10,000 steps.

“As we move into the future, we should be able to create these new algorithms that correlate biometrics to well-being,” he said.

In addition to working on measuring the effect of anti-ageing practices on the body, Dr Chopra is working on a project called ‘Digital Deepak’, an artificial intelligence based on his writings and teachings.

The AI “is still a baby” under development, he said, but would be rolled out later this year.

"If we don't adapt to technology, we become irrelevant," he told The National.

Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, who wrote a book on longevity, said mankind's "current best" was 120 years old - a number he said he hoped to beat.

Mr Asprey, a former technology company executive, said he believed “if I can hack the internet, I can hack this [ageing issue]” and admitted to investing at least $1 million in his efforts.

By prolonging life and increasing well-being, he said, there was a return on investment measured by time.

“When we imagine ageing, we imagine being old and that’s not a pretty sight: wheelchairs, you can’t remember your own name, incontinence,” he said. "But these are solvable, hackable problems."

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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021

Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.

The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.

These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.

“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.

“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.

“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.

“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”

Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.

There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.

“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.

“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.

“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”

THREE
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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Schedule:

Pakistan v Sri Lanka:
28 Sep-2 Oct, 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
6-10 Oct, 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai
13 Oct, 1st ODI, Dubai
16 Oct, 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi
18 Oct, 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi
20 Oct, 4th ODI, Sharjah
23 Oct, 5th ODI, Sharjah
26 Oct, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
27 Oct, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
29 Oct, 3rd T20I, Lahore