Vienna: People are not only living longer, but feeling younger, according to new research from the Vienna Institute of Dermography.

As a result of improved nutrition and healthcare people are living longer – average life epectancy has almost doubled in the last century. People also feel younger than their chronological age taking on new challenges when they retire and even starting new careers.

But researchers at the Vienna Institute say that a better way to define age would be our “propective” age – how many years longer we have to live rather than how many we have already lived.

According to Dr Segei Scherbov who carried out the research, looking at how much longer people had to live would solve many of the problems of the ageing society. They said it would help defuse the pensions timebomb if it led to a higher retirement age.