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Anti-Aging Medicine: The History

Life Extension and History: The Continual Search for the Fountain of Youth

Department of History, University of Delaware, Newark.

Address correspondence to Carole Haber, PhD, Department of History, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716. E-mail: chaber{at}udel.edu

The search for longevity is hardly new. Before recent times, advocates for longevity fell into two general time periods. From the 16th century to the 18th century, individuals worked to extend the lives and vitality of elderly people; they believed senescence was a time of considerable worth. From the 19th century through the early 20th century, however, anti-age advocates generally depicted old age as a time to be feared and despised, devising myriad procedures in order to eliminate it entirely. While sharing little with the advocates of the early modern period, the recent anti-age movement clearly mirrors many of the beliefs of the longevity advocates of a century ago. Both groups not only see old age as a disease to be eradicated through injections and operations, but also argue that the old constitute an enormous economic burden. These beliefs reveal that the new anti-age movement, like its early 20th century precursor, is based on more than simple hair dyes, hormones, or diet. Rather, their ideas and actions ultimately serve to marginalize the very process of growing old.