As of the early twenty-first century, the United States was on the threshold of a "longevity revolution." Dr. Robert N. Butler, the first director of the National Institute of Aging and chairman of the International Longevity Center, observed that during the twentieth century, life expectancy rose further and faster than during the entire period from ancient Rome (275 BCE, when life …
According to the United States Census Bureau, 12.4 percent of the population (approximately 35 million people) were 65 years and older in 2000. From just 4 percent of the total population in 1900, those 65 years of age and older are projected to account for 20.7 percent of the population, or 86.7 million people, in the year 2050. (See Table 10.1.) The first children born during the post–Wor…
More than six out of every ten people age 65 and over who died in 2001 were the victims of diseases of the heart, cancer (malignant neoplasms), or stroke (cerebrovascular diseases). (See Table 10.2.) Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, and remains the leading cause of death among older Americans. Approximately four out of five people who die of CHD are …
Older people with mental problems were once labeled "senile." However, researchers have found that physical disorders can cause progressive deterioration of mental and neurological functions. These disorders produce symptoms that are collectively known as dementia. Symptoms TABLE 10.3 Death rates for diseases of the heart, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age, 1950–2001…
Of the more than 35 million older Americans, approximately 6 million suffer from depression and 1 million of these suffer from severe depression. Family members and health care professionals often fail to recognize depression among the elderly. Since older people usually suffer from comorbidity (the presence of more than one chronic illness at one time), depression may be masked by the symptoms of…
The AAR observes that since women live longer than men, "the face of the worldwide longevity revolution is predominantly a female face." In the United States the life expectancy in 2001 for females born in that year was 5.4 years more than for males born the same year. (See Table 10.8.) In 2000 there were 85 men ages 65 to 69 for every 100 women in the same age span. As both sexes ag…
Geriatrics is the medical subspecialty concerned with the prevention and treatment of diseases in the elderly. In TABLE 10.6 Death rates for cerebrovascular diseases, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age, selected years 1950–2001 [Data are based on death certificates] 1909 Dr. Ignatz L. Nascher coined the term geriatrics from the Greek "geras" (old age) and "…
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