Thanks to modern medicine, people’s health and lives were vastly improved. Thanks to individuals like Nightingale, Chamberland, Pasteur, and many scientists over the centuries, various points in the existence of humanity were tipped over the scales of medicine for the better. Six months after Nightingale treated the troops in Turkey, the number of deaths was reduced to almost 2% (from a whopping 43%). Mere quality of life improvements massively upgraded the lives of the ailing. In the many turbulent times of wars and famine through the different ages, the slow improvements reduced deaths exponentially every single time.
The lifespan of humans increased gradually over the years. Life expectancy more than doubled over the past two centuries because of the gradual progress and great sacrifice of many but great people all over the world. In the 1800s, the global average was 29 years old. In 1950, the global average increased to 46 years old, or plus 17 years older. Now, the global average is 71 years old. For some first-world countries, its citizens can live to see 80 years old. Considering that the lifespan average of people through the majority of recorded history never increased beyond 45, this increase is exponential in comparison.
In most first-world countries, the elderly population is actually equal in population compared to other age groups. Thanks to modern medicine, people are beginning to live longer. Even most quality of life improvements is helping people be more aware of taking care of their health. In Japan, for example, the number of older adults greatly outweighs the number of millennials and Gen Z. Family planning also discourages having more children than you can handle.
What are the modern advancements in geriatric healthcare that are increasing the lifespan of people?
At Home Monitors
The increase in the amount of off-the-counter health monitors has become beneficial to more and more geriatric peoples. Things such as blood pressure monitors, heart rate monitors, and sleep apnea regulators are readily available for anyone to buy. Through the help of these monitors, you can detect whether you need to have your health checked. Through these monitors, you can also predict if a deadly disease is about to strike. At-home monitors save you the hassle of going to a nurse or doctor to have any ill feeling checked. Aside from them being very convenient, it is prudent to get as well as you age.
Laser Eye Surgeries
Today’s technology enables pinpoint accuracy in many different kinds of surgeries. Laser eye surgeries removing glaucoma and other eye diseases and improve or correct vision are now cheaper than ever. Whereas before, people had to do eye surgeries through invasive methods. Physical removal of the affected area had to be done with a knife.
Now, through laser eye surgery, the risks of further damage to the eye are reduced. Laser eye surgery now actually does without any blade. It also restructures part of the eye to improve further vision impaired by aging. This type of surgery has greatly increased the quality of life of the aging generations – with some even claiming that their vision has never been better in ages.
3D Rendering
Through modern technology, malignant entities and tumors within the body can now be easily detected. 3D organ rendering through screen tests and other scanning apparatus can target the foreign bodies inside and present you with an accurate image of them. Through 3D organ rendering, the risks of operations to be done in the patient can be easily assessed. As compared to the previous decades, you wouldn’t need to cut open the patient to find out where the abnormalities are.
Heart Pacemakers
Even though heart pacemakers now are extremely a normal incidence for most of the elderly, little do people know that they are only invented recently. Improved pacemakers are now the norm. Pacemakers make sure that your heart keeps up the pace even though through old age, the heart can sometimes be weaker or more tired. Those who depend on pacemakers have increased their life expectancy by almost 8 years by subjecting themselves to the installation of such a device. It has been working wonders for the aging population and will likely still exist in the near future.
Maintenance Drugs
Modern medicine has given way to the invention of maintenance drugs. Sometimes, through genetics, the body can become more inclined to produce bodily chemicals that are unwanted. Through maintenance drugs, we now have a way to regulate some of these chemicals inside so that we reduce our risks for certain kinds of fatal diseases.
Thankfully, the population is growing with the help of these modern advancements in healthcare. Now that people get to live longer, we get more in life with less.