Improving gut health in the elderly

Abstract

World wide, the population is ageing, with declining birth rates (especially in developed countries) and increasing life expectancy, contributing to the growing of an aged population. The impact of this ageing population is likely to be felt most keenly in Europe, where the proportion of older people will increase from 20% in 1998 to 35% in 2050 where one in every three people will be over 60 years (Ho, 1996). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) there are currently 580 million people in the world aged 60 or over and this figure is expected to rise to 1 billion in the next 20 years (Kalache, 1999). Up to 85% of the elderly population are likely to undergo medical intervention for single or multiple diseases at any given time (Garibaldi and Nurse, 1986). Thus, an ageing population is accompanied by a significant rise in health costs and the need for socially acceptable care facilities is likely to impact greatly on socioeconomic parameters within Westernised countries.