[Geriatrics from the 19th to the 21st century. 150 years of geriatric medicine: from increasing life expectancy to improving quality of life for the very old].

Abstract

With the world further aging, geriatric medicine clearly became a necessity: in the 21th century many more people reach older ages by means of continued medical success in expanding lifespan. 150 years ago life expectancy was between 30 to 40 years, but today close to 800 million people are 60 yeas old or more. During the last century aging has been associated with decline and decay, but gradually more people lived ably and healthily in older ages. The expansion in life expectancy has become a synchronism of quality of life: the average 65 year old today is much healthier, physically and mentally fitter, than the average 50 year old 150 years ago, when Alois Alzheimer war born, a period when most nowadays existing geriatric institutions were envisioned and progressively realized over time. Today we strongly believe that a healthy life and, equally, the quality of life of the very old people can be extended with presently existing medical knowledge, based on research, environmental and behavioural changes, by postponing the onset and progression of fatal and disabling diseases and disorders. But very soon ethical considerations concerning all kinds of medical and technological solutions available to maintain or even improve the mental and physical functioning of dependant elderly people will engage our society when deciding how and at what moment in time to make the best decisions and allocate resources. Geriatric medicine will be further challenged by competing and demanding medical and economic needs, when marshalling resources to meet the growing demands of our society for improving care for the very old and often demented adult.