Even if you want to keep it finite, it would still be better to have the body of a twenty-five year old for ~sixty years and then die.
I think we'll see a huge backlash to artificial age reduction / life extension, much in the same way that plastic surgery / cosmetic enhancement is viewed as an indulgent activity.
Is there any more universal dream than eternal youth, or even youth for a lifetime?
Age extension technology is going to be the doom of humanity as we know it. Death right now is the only equalizer we have to our own destructive and damaging tendencies to the planet and ourselves at large. Living longer just means more waste, more war, more inequality, all the behest of the richest who get access to life extension technologies first. Don't kid yourself.
On a meta level, perhaps those stories are an example of 'sour grapes'? :)
You clearly haven't hit 50 yet. Many mornings when I wake up my back is so stiff I can barely stand. A bit of yoga stretching has me operational again, but too much stress through the day can make my knee pretty sore, too.
So no, it's not all about vanity.
Not looking forward to 50 :( Unfortunately, like fusion power, the cure for aging seems to be perpetually "20 years away."