Better life quality and improved health care led to a significant increase in human lifespan and thus in the ration of elderly in the population of most developed countries. The healthy, disease-free lifespan, the so-called health-span did not increase as much as lifespan, because the incidence of debilitating chronic diseases like dementias strongly increases in advanced age.
As a consequence, now approximately 16-20 % of a human life is spent in late-life morbidity. Slowing down the ageing process would lead to a delay of the onset or decrease of the severity of late-life morbidities, which is one of the major aims in societies of the developed countries. He was the first who suggested that cannabinoid system may protect against ageing, because deletion of CB1 receptors led to early onset and accelerated brain ageing.
Following this new research direction he showed that 1; cannabinoid system activity declines with ageing. 2; Reduced cannabinoid system activity is associated with pro-inflammatory glial activity, reduced neurogenesis, disturbed proteostasis, cognitive deficits. -typical signs of old age. 3; elevation of CB1 receptor activity in old individuals by chronic low dose THC treatment reversed age-related gene expression, epigenetic and functional changes to the level typical of young individuals.
In his present projects he plans to elucidate whether a long-lasting restoration of cannabinoid signalling through THC-treatment – with or without senolytic treatment increases life- and health-span.