The U.S. healthcare system is not ready for the baby boom generation moving into retirement, geriatric care specialists say.
Medical resources will be inadequate for the boomer generation -- the 35 million to 70 million that will be retiring in less than 20 years, the Washington Times reported Friday.
"The shortage will be disastrous. It's really scary," says Russell Bodoff, executive director of the Center for Aging Services Technology with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
The health of U.S. adults age 65 and older has been improving since the early 1980s, however, "diseases such as obesity and diabetes are increasingly prevalent among the young," suggesting that "future Medicare beneficiaries might be less healthy than current ones."
The National Center for Health Statistics says 40 percent of U.S. adults age 45 to 64 have high blood pressure, while 36 percent are obese -- both risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
Related stories:
Whooping cough cases on the rise in Midwest
An underreported, often misdiagnosed disease that people think affects only young children is drawing concern from national health officials and has recently struck hospital workers, closed schools in the Midwest and kept multiple health departments busy sending out alerts.
Medical societies: Adults need vaccines
The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) have released a joint statement on the importance of adult vaccination against an increasing number of vaccine-preventable diseases. The statement has been endorsed by 17 other medical societies representing a range of practice areas.
Ginkgo proves ineffective in preventing dementia, Alzheimer's disease
One of the most widely used herbal supplements for improving memory and cognition has no impact on the development of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, according to new results from a $30 million, multi-center study.
Drug therapy for premature infants destroys brain cells in mice
A class of drugs that are used in premature infants to treat chronic lung damage can cause damage in the brain. New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests the drugs may cause cognitive and motor-control problems even when they are given before birth.
W. Virginia town shrugs at poorest health ranking
(AP) -- As a portly woman plodded ahead of him on the sidewalk, the obese mayor of America's fattest and unhealthiest city explained why health is not a big local issue.
Minority children waiting for heart transplants have higher death rates
Minority children awaiting a donor heart for transplant have a higher death rate than white children, even after controlling for clinical risk factors, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.
Recovering antibodies from 1918 flu pandemic survivors
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ninety years after the sweeping destruction of the 1918 flu pandemic, researchers at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt have recovered antibodies to the virus — from elderly survivors of the original outbreak.
Pittsburgh Compound B finds Alzheimer's-associated plaques in symptom-free older adults
In the largest study of its kind, Pittsburgh Compound B, an imaging agent that could facilitate the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, has been used to identify amyloid deposition in the brains of clinically older adults.