> The benefits of some of those advances are questionable at best. Spending the last decade of your life commuting to doctor's offices (or bedridden) ain't no picnic, nor is rotting away in a forgotten corner of a human warehouse.

To me, it's absolutely not "questionable at best": it's a tremendous step for humanity on a path to a fully enjoyable long life.

On a population-wide point of view, the next step is that the first 60/70 years should be dedicated to building a strong body. Sport and nutrition, done intelligently (no mindless cardio, for example), can do wonders for the last 20 years of one's life.

A strong body can be achieved by virtually anybody with time and dedication, minus specific conditions (laziness is not a specific condition). I'm not talking about being lean and jacked, I'm speaking about strong body, with working joints that have been taken care of during the whole life.

Of course there's medical conditions specific to old age that can't be escaped even with a strong body, mainly brain decay. Science needs to continue its quest here. I've read that there's hints that Alzheimer may be linked somehow (in a complex way) to lack of sleep: I can assure you that you sleep well when you lift every two days, years after years. In the end there's no simply no logical reason to neglect our body.

The bulk of old people in nursing have just completely neglected their body for their entire life, and that's the main reason why they can't enjoy the last years. As a civilization, we should now focus on engaging current generations to prepare their body for the end.