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Epidemiology and Demography of Aging

Some Lessons in Shortsightedness

  • Chapter
Drug Studies in the Elderly

Abstract

The phenomenon known as the “demographic revolution” has been with us for more than 200 years. Falling birth rates, rising incomes, and declining death rates have followed industrialization. Between 1880 and 1920 the impact of industrialization on demographic profiles was dramatically enhanced by a public health revolution, during which acute infectious diseases and tuberculosis became minor causes of death for the first time in history.

... in this century a major change has taken place in both the absolute number and relative proportion of older people. This change should be regarded as a triumph.... Unfortunately, our society was unprepared for the “demographic revolution”; we did not have the social institutions, the medical care system, the employment policies, and the nursing homes to properly respond to the change.

Robert N. Butler1

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Northwest Region, Portland, Oregon, 97215, USA

    Thomas M. Vogt

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  1. Thomas M. Vogt
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geriatrics Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine, 90048, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Neal R. Cutler M.D. (Director) (Director)

  2. Clinical Pharmacokinetics Research Laboratory Pharmacy Department Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, 20892, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Prem K. Narang Ph.D. (Supervisor) (Supervisor)

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© 1986 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Vogt, T.M. (1986). Epidemiology and Demography of Aging. In: Cutler, N.R., Narang, P.K. (eds) Drug Studies in the Elderly. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1253-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1253-6_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-1255-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-1253-6

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