Today the average lifespan in the US approaches 80 years old. However, the average health span—the number of healthy years we live—is much shorter. In the US it is 63 years old. This means we are living much longer than we are healthy. Disparity in health span is substantial in the US. The most privileged have a health span that approaches their lifespan. We must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to match their health span to their lifespan. Offering realistic guide posts on what to expect with normal aging. Crucial to put aging well at the center of policy internationally to harness the power of older people and move forward globally.

Exciting advances have been made recently in understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of aging. Mounting evidence suggests that progression of aging changes can be modulated. Interventions that extend health span and lifespan in model organisms have been developed. The time is approaching for translation of these interventions into clinical treatments. By targeting fundamental aging mechanisms, it may be possible to delay, prevent, or alleviate chronic diseases as a group, rather than individually, and enhance health span. Such a compression of morbidity would have profound clinical and economic benefits, with reductions in life-years spent with chronic disease and age-related dysfunction. However, barriers remain, including lack of clinical and regulatory paradigms for translating agents that target fundamental aging processes into clinical interventions, and a shortage of personnel trained to do so. Here we consider research findings that support the potential value of translational aging research and strategies to move these findings from bench to bedside.