Abstract
The article analyzes changes in the medical approach of aging and identifies its consequences in the way patients are living the aging process. This research presents an analysis of controversy in the context of the organization of anti-aging medicine in Brazil. The discussion addresses the medicalization of aging by considering the controversy about the role of biomedicine in the conjuncture of life expectancy improvements. It is emphasized the linkage between medical authority and individual conduction of aging with the background of active aging as a paradigm. This analysis highlights the anti-aging medicine strategy of creating an approach of the lifestyle that reorganizes the doctor/patient relationship by focusing on close interaction with patients and giving them a leading role in the therapeutic process, which becomes an asset in a disadvantageous institutional context.
Keywords:
Aging; medicalization; anti-aging medicine; body techniques; lifestyle