Global life expectancy, years
AFEGA Research GroupAFEGA Research Group
Knowledge —
open to revision
We explore ageing, healthspan and longevity with scientifically grounded optimism. Our work distinguishes what research has established, how AFEGA assesses the evidence and what individuals experience in their own lives.
The best available evidence
Shaped by method
Open to revision
What is the AFEGA Research Group?
Scientific orientation across the dimensions of ageing.
The AFEGA Research Group is a privately funded research group led by Peter Niehenke, Ph. D. It examines biological, psychological and existential dimensions of ageing and makes complex research more understandable without reducing it to slogans.
Our work includes scientific orientation, the critical assessment of substances and interventions, the development of a growing substance library, explorative research projects and reflection on the psychological questions raised by a longer life.
AFEGA is also connected with commercial activities, including product development and the AFEGA Anti-Aging Shop. We make this relationship transparent and keep scientific assessment, product interests and sales communication recognisably distinct.
Learn about AFEGAHealthspan
Living longer is not enough.
Longevity cannot be measured by additional years alone. Between 1990 and 2023, global life expectancy increased more rapidly than healthy life expectancy in a Global Burden of Disease analysis. The modelled difference between the two — the morbidity gap — widened globally from 8.8 to 10.7 years.
These figures describe populations, not the predetermined course of an individual life. They do not mean that every person will spend 10.7 continuous years in illness. They do show why longer life and healthier life must not be treated as the same goal.
Healthy Life Expectancy, years
Morbidity gap, years
For AFEGA, healthspan means the part of life lived in the best attainable health and with function, independence and agency preserved as far as possible. It is not identical with the population measure Healthy Life Expectancy, and it cannot be captured by a single biomarker.
The question is therefore not only how life might be extended, but how health and capability can be preserved — and how people can live meaningfully, autonomously and in connection with others even when limitations arise.
Source: Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 analysis, published in The Lancet Public Health in 2026. The figures are modelled population estimates and do not predict individual health trajectories.Our outlook
Scientifically grounded optimism.
Ageing research has opened possibilities that would have seemed improbable only a few decades ago. Biology is not a promise, however, and possibility is not proof.
Our optimism is neither passive enthusiasm nor scepticism disguised as caution. It is a willingness to take emerging ideas seriously, test them against the best available evidence and revise conclusions when the evidence changes.
We do not make possibilities smaller than the evidence requires. We do not present uncertainty as certainty. We remain open to progress while keeping the difference between a promising mechanism and a demonstrated human benefit clearly in view.
Three distinct levels
Related, but not interchangeable.
Scientific evidence
What was actually studied? In which population, at what dose, for how long and with which outcomes? How robust, reproducible and transferable are the findings?
AFEGA’s assessment
Evidence does not interpret itself. We examine its quality, context, limits and relevance, distinguish mechanisms from clinical outcomes and state the conclusion justified at the time of review.
Individual experience
Personal experience matters because it is part of a person’s life. It is authoritative with respect to what that person experiences, but does not automatically establish why it occurred or whether it can be generalised.
Research areas
Biology, evidence and the human meaning of a longer life.
Biology of ageing
We follow biological processes associated with ageing and examine what those findings do — and do not — imply for human health.
Healthspan and the morbidity gap
We distinguish lifespan, life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and individual healthspan.
Substances and interventions
We separate biochemical plausibility, preclinical findings, human evidence, safety and regulatory context.
Product development and quality
Scientific ideas may inform products. Product-related interests are disclosed and do not determine the scientific assessment.
Psychology of a long life
Longer lives raise questions of development, identity, transition, loss, purpose, finitude and secular spirituality.
A growing substance library
Different claims. Clearly marked levels of support.
Each profile is intended to show what has been reported or traditionally proposed, what is biologically plausible, what has been observed in preclinical research and what has been supported in human studies. English profiles will be published individually after scientific and editorial review. The German library currently includes resveratrol and coenzyme Q10.
View the substance libraryInternational dialogue
Serious exchange across science and practice.
We welcome enquiries from distributors, clinics, healthcare professionals, manufacturers, raw-material suppliers and scientific or professional contacts. We are interested in conversations where scientific understanding, responsible product development and practical experience can inform one another without being confused with one another.
International PartnersContact usThe information provided by the AFEGA Research Group is intended for general scientific and educational purposes. It does not replace individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Decisions about health, medication or supplementation should take personal circumstances and, where appropriate, professional medical advice into account.