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A few weeks ago, I received a very elegant invitation in the mail—heavy cardstock, tasteful script, the whole nine yards. My first thought was that someone was getting married. Turns out, it was an inaugural dinner for a new “over-50 lifestyle community” opening in our neighborhood.
I showed it to my wife, and she burst out laughing—as she often does when I get flyers from AARP or local assisted living centers. She’s 16 years younger than I am, which gives her plenty of material. “You're basically one mailer away from a mobility scooter,” she jokes. And yes, I am on the mailing list of the mobile scooter companies.
She’s not wrong. At 54, I get regular love notes from AARP, brochures for hearing aids, and—my personal favorite—a flyer for a nearby assisted living facility, offering a “pre-residency tour with complimentary lunch.” (Is there a less flattering way to say, “you’re next”?)
Here’s the thing though: I don’t feel old. I do one, sometimes two SoulCycle classes a day. I lift weights. I eat clean. Most of my close friends are in their 30s and 40s. I still work full time—and I have no plans to retire, ever, because I genuinely love what I do. Indeed, when I speak to my friends from college or others in their 50's, rarely does the word "retirement" come up.
But as much as I joke about aging, I’m not naïve to what this decade represents. Your 50s are not a plateau. They are a pivot point. And how we handle that pivot may determine whether we live vibrantly into our 90s or face a slow, steady decline that begins far earlier than we’d like to admit.
Over the past year, I’ve become more and more curious about the science of midlife change and longevity. And the research is both sobering and optimistic. Our 40s and 50s are, statistically speaking, when the cracks start to show: blood pressure creeps up, cholesterol edges higher, sleep becomes elusive, the weight gets harder to manage, and stress—well, it never left.
But this is also a period of incredible potential. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open analyzed over 23,000 people and found that weight loss in midlife—without any surgery or medications—reduced chronic disease risk by nearly 50%. Another major study presented at the American College of Cardiology this year revealed that controlling five common risk factors by age 50—blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and smoking—can add a full decade to your life. A decade.
This isn’t wellness guru stuff. This is hard epidemiology.
So why do so many of us wait until crisis strikes to take action?
There’s a market segment that's quietly emerging, and I believe it holds huge implications—not just for healthcare, but for pharma, wellness, and public health: Gen Xers who’ve lived relatively healthy lives, but who now want to optimize for healthspan, not just lifespan. We don’t just want to be around—we want to thrive. We might be starting new careers, new companies, etc., well into our 50s and 60s.
And we’re paying attention. We’re reading longevity books and listening to Huberman. We’re experimenting with cold plunges and fasting apps. We’re buying protein powder like we’re entering a bodybuilding competition. We’re also asking harder questions about medications, supplements, metabolic health, and mental well-being.
My brother Jesse Pines, for example, recently opened an integrative medicine practice in Northern Virginia (https://www.eternaintegrative.com/), and he’s seen explosive demand. Why? Because patients want more than a 7-minute primary care visit and a statin refill. They want to understand the root causes of their fatigue, inflammation, anxiety, sleep problems. And they’re willing to invest time and money in real, measurable improvement.
This is where I think the pharmaceutical industry can—and must—evolve.
To the commercial and insights professionals reading this: the opportunity isn’t just in treating disease anymore. It’s in partnering with a generation that wants to stay out of the healthcare system entirely. This includes:
In other words, we’re not waiting to become patients. We’re active participants in our own long-term care. That’s a shift in mindset that calls for a shift in how the industry shows up.
Of course, it’s not all biomarkers and blood panels. AARP recently published a delightful piece called “10 Things You Need More of After 50.” Spoiler: it wasn’t just about supplements or strength training (though those made the list). It was about friendship, laughter, purpose, and sex.
Turns out, dopamine matters. So does sunlight. And laughter—according to researchers—is not just good for the soul, but physiologically protective against anxiety, depression, and even respiratory issues. We laugh more in groups, by the way. So yes, your SoulCycle posse or hiking buddies might be saving your brain.
Add to that the Lancet Commission’s latest report showing that up to 50% of global dementia cases could be prevented by addressing things like hypertension, hearing loss, vision loss, and social isolation—and you realize that prevention isn’t just about what you eat or what pill you take. It’s how you live. Who you surround yourself with. What makes you laugh.
We’re also facing a more sobering trend: cancer rates in adults under 50 are rising globally. According to a 2023 BMJ Oncology report, early-onset cancers have increased by 79% in the last 30 years—driven by lifestyle, diet, inactivity, and inflammation.
For me, this is a reminder that feeling young and being young are not the same. Just because I can hold my own in a spin class doesn’t mean I’m exempt from risk. That’s why I’ve started paying more attention to sleep, protein intake, B12 and D levels, cholesterol panels, and—yes—even colonoscopy schedules.
This is not about fear. It’s about designing a future you actually want to live in.
This is a generation that grew up on MTV and now meditates with Calm. We know the cost of burnout, the value of community, and the importance of regular movement. We recognize that while we need to use suntan lotion, in all actuality we probably should be spending more time outdoors. We’re not afraid to try new things, but we are increasingly aware that what we do in our 50s will determine whether we’re thriving or declining in our 70s and 80s.
Pharma has a huge role to play here—if it listens, evolves, and meets us at this inflection point.
So yes, I’ll accept your invitation to the over-50 dinner. I might even bring a bottle of low-alcohol wine. But I’m also going to get up the next morning, clip into my bike, and keep pedaling forward—because I’m not done yet.
In fact, I think I’m just getting started.
