Ageing is the primary risk factor for cancer, dementia, and cardiovascular diseases. As the understanding of the biology of ageing constantly improves, there are already initial approaches to geroprotection, which seeks to reduce the age-related risk of disease and thus extend healthy lifespan. In the discussion paper “Health-Extending Medicine in an Aging Society – Prospects for Medical Research and Practice” published today by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the researchers involved recommend a paradigm shift in how research and medicine approach age-related diseases.