A Message from Dr. Lotta Granholm, Center on Aging Director

The focus on aging in research and clinical care has become an urgent issue in the US, since the “"baby boomer" generation is starting to turn 60 within the next year. From then on, it is calculated that 10,000 individuals will turn 60 every day for the next 20 years! Due to our increased life span, the population over 85 years of age will increase 5-fold in the same period. Contrary to this large number, fewer physicians are turning to Geriatrics as a specialty.

In fact, less than 0.5 % of health professionals are trained in gerontology/geriatrics and few medical schools have revised their curriculum to include the study of the aging human body. Despite this, more than 40% of doctor's visits, 50% of prescriptions, and 50% of hospital visits are made by and for elderly individuals. With the decreasing medicare/ medicaid funding, it is quite plausible that the situation will amount to a health care crisis in the next two decades. Health care for seniors is the focus of our efforts at the MUSC Center on Aging. Learn more about the Center on Aging's work here»