Aging Research Network-Rationale - 0 views
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There are two aspects to aging which most will recognize, the chronological passage of time which we associate with the benefits of increased experience and wisdom, and the increasing levels of dysfunction we experience as we get older. One is welcome, the other less so.
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It is estimated that 80% of our health care dollars go to the treatment of age-related dysfunction. The Miliken Institute reported in Oct 2007 that in 2003 it cost 1.3 TRILLION DOLLARS per year in direct and indirect costs ameliorate the suffering of the aged. This is in stark contrast to the 150-200 Million Dollars actualy spent on studying aging which amounts to 1/6th of 1 percent of the yearly budget of the National Health Institute of 28 Billion dollars.
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The reason for this disproportionate focus on spending on dysfunction instead of research is that aside from healthy lifestyle choices, little can presently be done to intervene in the aging process and people tend to disbelieve that serious progress will ever be made in addressing the dysfunction that accompanies the aging process. Due to new breakthroughs this overly-pessimistic perspective is slowly changing.
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The chart to the right describes the aging process from the point of view of increasing dysfunction and the different ways in which medicine and science try to deal with it