Aging and Biogerontology
Technological changes during the past century have resulted in an improved life span for the average human being. At the same time, people in the wealthier, more industrialized areas of the world are having fewer babies . What this means, at least for the more affluent countries, is that the age gap between the young and the elderly is growing. It also means that we are seeing an increased number of elderly in our society. This change in demographics is going to have a psychological, sociological, and economic impact on the future.
The combination of lower birth rates and increased aging may alter the current life cycle of generations. Typically, people have children during their twenties, which means that they will become grandparents while they are in their forties. Today, more people are having children in their thirties, and having fewer children than in the past, meaning that they are becoming grandparents in their fifties and sixties, and there are fewer young people. This has the effect of generating a society with more elderly people than younger people which, in turn impacts many aspects of society.
Psychologically, the increased aging of the population will result in a change in how we perceive the elderly, and how we take care of them. As the average age of a population increases, it will generate the need for added research into common afflictions of the aged, like Alzheimer’s. As a society, we have a couple different avenues to pursue in regards to aging and increasing human longevity. One approach would be to use biomedicine to cure aging at early stages using germline interventions, meaning the current generations of elderly will die off, leaving future generations to live even longer lives. The other approach, which we are seeing today, is to work on halting, or reversing, some of the effects of aging, such as osteoporosis, memory loss, and organ deterioration, allowing the elderly to live longer lives . These decisions will have a psychological effect on future populations.
Increased aging will also impact the social fabric of society. Healthcare and caregiving for the elderly will impact many more families as healthcare costs rise and residential options become more expensive . This will change the basic family structure in the home.
Economically, the increased aging of society will have a drastic impact. With more people in retirement status, and fewer people working, pension payments will climb and the tax base will decline. Healthcare costs will also increase with an aging population . On the other hand, according to the scoop project, as the population ages, more people will continue working past the normal age of retirement, increasing the growth in real wages.
One area that will have an enormous effect on the aging process is the fairly new science of biogerontology. Biogerontology studies the aging process by studying the effect of aging on our cells, organs, and bodily systems. Biogerontologists also study age-related conditions like dementia and osteoporosis to determine why people are affected by them, with the goal of reducing or eliminating their effects . The goal of biogerontology is to reduce human mortality by expanding the human life expectancy. In other words, to make humans nearly immortal.
Biogerontology, as a fairly new science, has some ethical issues that must be kept in mind. One of the first ethical concerns of Biogerentology, since it focuses on research of the elderly, is to ensure that it does not create unrealistic hopes in the subjects of the research. Curing aging has a long history in science and pseudo-science, and it always invokes emotional attachment to the results . However, the various research being conducted by biogerentologists will at least result in improved aging conditions as well as increased longevity for humans. This research, along with continued advances in other areas affecting the human condition, will hopefully lead to improved quality of life for all of us as we grow older.
References
Carstensen, L. (Winter 2007). Growing Old or Living Long: Take Your Pick. Issues In Science and Technology, XXIII(2). Retrieved from http://issues.org/23-2/carstensen/
Explorehealthcareers.org. (2016, March 24). Biogerontologist. Retrieved from Explore Health Careers.org: http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/165/Biogerontologist
Magalhaes, J. (2012). Immortality and Society. Retrieved from senesence.info: http://senescence.info/immortal_society.html
National Institute on Aging. (n.d.). Aging Well in the 21st Century: Strategic Directions for Research on Aging. Retrieved from National Institute on Aging: https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/strategic-directions-2016/goal-e-improve-our-understanding-of-consequences
scoopproject.org. (n.d.). Pensions and productivity: The economic impact of an ageing population. Retrieved from Socio-economic and Humanities Research for Policy: http://www.scoopproject.org.uk/Default.aspx?pageid=294
Sethe, S. &. (2013). Ethical Perspectives in Biogerontology. In M. &. Schermer, Ethics, Health Policy and (Anti-) Aging: Mixed Blessings (pp. 173-188). Dordrecht: Springer Science + Business Media.
