1 / 17

The Australian Ageing Research Agenda

The Australian Ageing Research Agenda. Prof G A (Tony) Broe Prince of Wales Ageing Research Centre Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute President Elect Australian Association of Gerontology. “Serious Ageing”. Oeppen and Vaupal, “Broken Limits to Life Expectancy”. Science (2002) .

kynton
Download Presentation

The Australian Ageing Research Agenda

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Australian Ageing Research Agenda Prof G A (Tony) Broe Prince of Wales Ageing Research Centre Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute President Elect Australian Association of Gerontology

  2. “Serious Ageing” Oeppen and Vaupal, “Broken Limits to Life Expectancy”. Science (2002) Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  3. “Serious ageing”should be be incorporated into the Ageing Research Agenda • Vaupel (Science 2002) is likely to be correct – an average life expectancy of 100 yrs by 2060 • Malthus was wrong – wealthy populations age & get richer, rather than multiply & get poorer • Demographers’ age limits have been very wrong: Dublin (65y), Omran (70), Fries & Olshansky (85) • Politicians blame the baby boomers. But they will be little more than a “blip” on our future ageing • Australia will have 1.3 M. people 85+ by 2051 (a 400% increase as the population grows by 30%) Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  4. The Ageing Research AgendaQuestions • What is the difference, or relative value, in pursuing “ageing research” vs more general research acknowledging age differentials? • How can “ageing research” contribute to the “general” Australian Research Agenda? Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  5. The Ageing Research AgendaQuestions • What is the difference, or relative value, in pursuing “ageing research” vs more general research acknowledging age differentials? • What characterises “human ageing” as a topic worthy of its own research agenda? • What characterises “general” scientific research? Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  6. What characterises Human Ageing? • Very serious - “the ageing of the aged” – 80+ • Very rapid - so it has a recognition time-lag • Very recent - so it has lack of acceptance • Poorly understood - distal & proximal causes • Extremely complex - accumulatedgenetic/ environment interactions across the life-span • Multifactorial - we should embracediversity Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  7. % over 60 Population Ageing - England 1541-1981 Ageing is very rapid, very recent & v. complex 25 20 15 % over 60 10 5 0 1541 1751 1921 1981 1800 Era Laslett P. Ageing Soc 1984; 4:379-89 Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  8. ‘Ageing of the aged’ from 1970 on – (Vaupel, Science 1998) Mortality declines with advancing age over 80 Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  9. What characterises Human Ageing? • Serious ageing - “the ageing of the aged” 80+ • Very rapid - so it has a recognition time-lag • Very recent -so it has lack of acceptance • Poorly understood - distal & proximal causes • Extremely complex - an accumulation of life- long genetic/environment interactions • Multifactorial - we must embrace complexity Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  10. Human Ageing & MedicineLack of acceptance of a new discipline The Australian Association of Gerontology was formed in 1964 & now has about 1000 members - however • Geriatric Medicine & Old Age Psychiatry training were accepted by our colleges only after 1976 • “We look after old people”- Syndrome of the 1970s-80s when we set up our multidisciplinary clinical units • “We do ageing research”- Syndrome of the 1980-90s when we set up our multidisciplinary research units • “Keep your old people out of our acute hospitals”Syndrome of 2000-03 Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  11. The Ageing Research Agenda • What is the difference, or relative value, in pursuing “ageing research” vs more general research acknowledging age differentials? • What characterises “human ageing” as a topic worthy of its own research agenda? • What characterises “general” scientific research? Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  12. Ageing Research Very recent Very new Tackles serious ageing New questions abound Complexity rules Multi-factorial “General” Research Comparatively old Pretty “establishment” Defines midlife as aging An aura of dogma Ockham’s razor rules Reductionist The Ageing Research Agenda Can these 2 agendas be merged? Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  13. Q. What is the difference, or relative value, in pursuing “ageing research” vs more “general” research acknowledging age differentials? A. Both are legitimate and both are essential. 1. Nutrition, exercise, cancer, cardio-vascular & other system-based (vs “general”) researchers can & do piggy-back age-related research onto older cohorts with important advances in ageing 2. Gerontologists should drive complex, multi-factorial, across discipline, across life-span research on serious ageing that links social environmental & biological risk factors. “Ageing research” needs to cross current restrictive boundaries set up by funding bodies such as ARC, NHMRC, NHF etc Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  14. Q.2. How can “ageing research” contribute to the “general” Australian Research Agenda? • The principles intrinsic to “Ageing Research” (complexity; diversity; multifactorial causation; a life-span approach and multidisciplinary approach) apply increasingly to many other research fields • The Information Revolution has transformed social and epidemiological research. Combined with advances in genetics, imaging, I.T. and other technologies we have the tools to bring ageing research principles to any research area Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  15. Q 3.Can investigator driven, hypothesis testing, ageing research assist aged policy/services? • Appropriate population-based studies are a scientific equivalent of the more PC consumer consultation (RCS = randomized controlled surveys) • Kilsyth, Dubbo, SOPS, Canberra, and other studies have made many direct & indirect contributions to ageing and health services in Australia Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  16. Sydney Older Persons Study: 1992-2003Summary of topics - Publications from 1995 Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

  17. Conclusions • Population Ageing is a good product of 200 yrs of wealth, health and salubrity - creating a majority of healthy older people, who don’t throw bombs • Average life-span will increase relentlessly; but our very old aren’t dying - their brains simply fade away • We need to delay and reduce late-life decline and disability; and to support failing old & their carers • “Ageing Research” is the key. Longitudinal, cross discipline, socio-epidemiological studies w. biological correlates - is a good methodology to answer the Qs. Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute

More Related