Diseases of Aging

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

The leading cause of irreversible vision loss in older adults. Anti-VEGF therapy revolutionised wet AMD; dry AMD options remain limited.

Alzheimer's Disease

The most common form of dementia. Decades of failed amyloid trials have given way to modest disease-modifying anti-amyloid antibodies and renewed interest in prevention.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Progressive degeneration of motor neurons. Almost uniformly fatal within 3–5 years; recent disease-modifying therapies offer modest extension. Listed here for completeness and because aging biology is central to risk.

Aortic Stenosis

Progressive narrowing of the aortic valve driven by senescent-cell-mediated calcification — one of the most common age-related valve diseases, now treatable with TAVR.

Atrial Fibrillation

The most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Major modifiable cause of stroke, heart failure, and (likely) dementia.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

Age-related enlargement of the prostate causing urinary symptoms. Affects most men by age 70. Multiple effective medical and procedural treatments; not a precursor to prostate cancer.

Cancer (Overview)

A heterogeneous family of diseases driven by accumulated DNA damage, clonal expansion, and immune escape — closely tied to most hallmarks of aging.

Cardiovascular Disease (Atherosclerotic)

The leading cause of death globally. Largely a cumulative-apoB exposure problem with decades-long latency, making early prevention the single highest-leverage longevity intervention.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)

Progressive decline in kidney function over months to years. A potent independent cardiovascular risk factor and increasingly modifiable with newer drug classes.

Cognitive Decline (Non-Dementia)

Subtle, sub-syndromal loss of memory, processing speed, and executive function in midlife and beyond — predictive of later dementia and individually modifiable.

Dyslipidaemia

Abnormal plasma lipids (high apoB, high triglycerides, low HDL, or genetic patterns like familial hypercholesterolaemia and elevated Lp(a)). The single biggest causal lever in cardiovascular prevention.

Frailty

A geriatric syndrome of reduced physiological reserve and resilience. Predicts mortality, hospitalisation, and post-surgical outcomes better than chronological age.

Functional Limitation

Age-related decline in activities of daily living and instrumental activities — a disability endpoint that is often more predictive of mortality than specific disease diagnoses.

Hearing Loss (Presbycusis)

Age-related sensorineural hearing loss. One of the largest modifiable dementia risk factors per the Lancet Commission, and an under-treated cause of social withdrawal and depression in older adults.

Heart Failure (HFpEF / HFrEF)

Inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood. Once a poor-prognosis terminal diagnosis; now a treatable chronic condition. SGLT2 inhibitors revolutionised both reduced- and preserved-ejection-fraction phenotypes.

Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF)

The dominant form of heart failure in older adults — driven by diastolic dysfunction and cardiac stiffening; historically difficult to treat, now transformed by SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 agonists.

Hypertension

The most prevalent modifiable cardiovascular risk factor in adults. Treatment thresholds tightened with SPRINT. Lifestyle is foundational; multiple drug classes available.

Lewy Body Dementia

Common age-related neurodegenerative dementia driven by alpha-synuclein aggregation — the second most common cause of dementia in older adults.

Metabolic Syndrome

Cluster of insulin resistance, central adiposity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and impaired glucose handling. A pre-disease state that doubles cardiovascular risk and quintuples type-2 diabetes incidence.

Muscle Wasting (Cachexia)

Severe involuntary loss of muscle mass and function, driven by disease or aging beyond the sarcopenia spectrum — a critical mortality risk factor in cancer, heart failure, and end-stage disease.

NAFLD / MASLD (Fatty Liver Disease)

Excess hepatic triglyceride deposition unrelated to alcohol. Now relabelled MASLD (metabolic-dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease). Affects ~30% of adults globally; progresses to fibrosis and cirrhosis in a minority.

Osteoarthritis

Whole-joint disease characterised by cartilage loss, bone remodelling, and synovial inflammation. Leading global cause of disability in older adults; no disease-modifying drug yet approved.

Osteoporosis

Reduced bone mineral density and architectural deterioration leading to fragility fractures. Largely silent until it isn't.

Parkinson's Disease

A progressive neurodegenerative disease defined by dopaminergic neuron loss and α-synuclein aggregation in the substantia nigra and elsewhere.

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

Atherosclerosis affecting limb arteries. Often silent until claudication or critical limb ischaemia. A potent marker of systemic atherosclerosis and elevated MI/stroke risk.

Prostate Cancer Screening

PSA-based screening for prostate cancer — long-standing controversy over benefit-harm balance, especially in older men. Age-adapted approach now standard.

Sarcopenia

Progressive age-related loss of muscle mass, strength, and function — a leading driver of falls, frailty, hospitalisation, and loss of independence.

Sleep Apnea (OSA)

Recurrent upper-airway obstruction during sleep causing arousals, hypoxia, and downstream cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive disease. Massively under-diagnosed.

Stroke

Sudden brain injury from blocked or burst blood vessels. The second-leading global cause of death. Risk is largely modifiable through blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and lipid management.

Type 2 Diabetes

A progressive disorder of insulin resistance and β-cell failure. Major driver of cardiovascular, kidney, and neurodegenerative disease — and now widely reversible in early stages.

Vascular Cognitive Impairment

Cognitive decline attributable to cerebrovascular disease — the second most common substrate of dementia after Alzheimer pathology, and often coexisting.