Are we getting better at treating age-related disease? I wouldn't know how to answer this. It has been discouraging to see the average lifespan fall in the last few years in the United States.
Encouragingly, a recent study argues that the risk of dementia has significantly declined in Americans from 2000 to 2016 [1]. From the study: "The age-adjusted prevalence of dementia decreased from 12.2% in 2000 (95% CI, 11.7 to 12.7%) to 8.5% in 2016 (7.9 to 9.1%) in the 65+ population, a statistically significant decline of 3.7 percentage points or 30.1%."
It is not clear what is driving this decrease. Reason's most recent Fight Aging newsletter speculates authors speculate it may have to do with better maintenance of blood pressure and the use of statins [2]. Neurodegenerative diseases like dementia are critical for lifespan extension. If we don't have a healthy brain, is life worth living? This study suggests we are making progress.
[1] Hudomiet, Hurd and Rohwedder. Trends in inequalities in the prevalence of dementia in the United States. PNAS 2022, 119 (46) e2212205119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2212205119
[2] Reason. "The risk of suffering dementia is declining." Fight Aging. Accessed on Nov 19, 2022. URL: https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/11/the-risk-of-suffering-dementia-is-declining/