The population would have a drastic increase in the aged, thus increasing the burden on society to care for them. If at this current day and age, society already is unable to manage the abuse problem, then the health implications of longevity are grave in that they will aggravate the abuse by increasing the number of elderly left alone. Investigators have further said that many violations are neither detected nor reported, which leads officials to conclude that the problem is even underestimated.
Surely, if society cannot currently manage the elderly and provide a good, healthy and safe environment for them, then there is no way that society can do so after a further increase in the aged that longevity research will bring. My fifth and final concern regarding longevity lies in the fact that it will now place a large amount of population that has needs to be fulfilled but cannot fulfill them on its own. Increasing longevity will increase the number of senior citizens and the number of non-working elderly dependent.
The health concerns for this are immense, as the question that can now be raised is regarding who in society will provide for the health of these individuals who cannot earn a living for themselves. CDC research concerns states that the increased number of people with ages over 65 will potentially lead to increased health-care costs. The health-care cost per capita for persons from the age group over 65 years in the United States is three to five times greater than the cost for persons below that age.
(CDC 2003) Imagine how this will increase if people were to live 20 years longer. Currently, the number of persons aged >65 years is expected to rise from around 35 million in 2000 to an estimated 71 million in 2030. Longevity will even increase this number. Eventually, as resources will decline, then there will not be enough economic support to support the aged, leading to substandard healthcare and health risks. There may not be enough to provide them with medical needs, particularly because the working population may be outnumbered by the dependent elderly non-working populous.
As such, in conjunction with many other previously discussed claims, the promise of longevity, although seemingly tempting, may not exactly be as, wonderful as it seems to be.
WORKS CITED
About. com:Mental health (2009) ‘Losing a Spouse: What Hurts and What Helps [online] Available from <http://mentalhealth. about. com/library/sci/1102/blspouse1102. htm> [April 6, 2009] Alzheimers association (2009) ‘What is Alzheimer’s’[online] Available from <http://www. alz. org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers. asp#early> [April 6, 2009] CBS news (2001) ‘Nursing Home Abuse Increasing’ [online] Available from <http://www. cbsnews.com/stories/2001/07/30/national/main304038. shtml> [April 6, 2009] CDC (2003)
‘Public Health and Aging: Trends in Aging — United States and Worldwide’ MMWR weekly[online] Available from <http://www. cdc. gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5206a2. htm> [April 6, 2009] Douglas, J. (2006) ‘New longevity research center launched to study supercentenarians’ Natural News [online] Available from < http://www. naturalnews. com/020701. html> [April 6, 2009] Hodes, R. (2003) ‘Human Longevity and Aging Research’. Special Committee on Aging [online] Available from <http://www. nia. nih. gov/AboutNIA/BudgetRequests/HLAgingResearch. htm> [April 6, 2009]