‘Boomer-itis’: Living younger longer

That was the challenge posed by Paul Hodge, chairperson of the Global Generations Policy Institute and director of the Harvard Generations Policy Program, speaking at the 2005 White House Conference on Aging.

If you know what Paul Hodge was talking about, you must be a baby boomer yourself, born between 1946 and 1964, and probably turning a nifty 60 this year.

Hodge went on to compute, "In 2006, the baby boomers will begin to turn 60 and in 2011, 65. In the coming decades, there will be a significant increase in the number of (American) elder boomers and in their proportion to the total population. By 2030, the boomers’ population will increase to 20 percent of the population up from a current 13 percent, and the number of elderly will double. Put in different terms, from 2010 to 2030, the 65+ population is projected to ‘spike’ by 75 percent to over 69 million people. Then from 2030 to 2050, the growth rate is projected to grow about 14 percent with the number of elderly totaling about 79 million."

Doomsayers say that by 2030, the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s in America will have increased by 70 percent.

In the workplace, you will probably see more co-workers having hot flashes even in freezing aircon temperature and talking about HRT, BMI, and a lot of other acronyms that sound alien to you.There’ll probably be more cranky employees – and we’re not just talking about the female boomers but also about the male boomers suffering from the Irritable Male Syndrome.

Hodge zeroed in on Japan as another country (aside from European Union countries like Italy) with an advanced aging population (in some parts of Japan, people live to be over 100 and are still toiling in the fields under the scorching sun at that ripe old age). He added that Japanese women live longer than any other female populations on earth, Hai!

Yes, the world keeps growing older every day, but the booming great news is that, as per current demographic projections, "boomers will be living younger longer," noted Hodge. Thanks to discoveries and breakthroughs in stem cell, biogenetic engineering, medicine, nutrition, robotics, pharmaceuticals and antiaging products that promise to take years off one’s face and add life to one’s years, and a host of "presently unknown interrelated fields."

Today’s baby boomers are also better educated and more Internet-savvy. "Some boomers will have more than one career and take a new career for a challenge or pleasure," said Hodge.

Talk about second wind. Far from being tired, the booming baby boomers’ population are not thinking of retirement anytime soon. And it’s not just because they can’t afford to be jobless.

So, who’s afraid of Boomer-itis?

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A mercury-free health care

Recently, health care executives got together to talk about mercury – and what steps to take to gradually eliminate its use in hospitals here – at a mercury conference conducted by the Health Care Without Harm, Philippine Heart Center, Department of Health, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Among the distinguished speakers were Dr. Esperanza Cabral of the Philippine Hypertension Society; Peter Orris, director of the Occupational Health Service Institute at the University of Illinois, Chicago; Irma Makalinao, toxicology professor at the University of the Philippines; Genandrialine Peralta, chemical engineering professor at UP; Susan Wilburn of the International Council of Nurses; Dr. Peter Ng of the Research Center for the Health Sciences at the University of Santo Tomas; Sondang Widya Estikasari of the National Agency for Drug and Food Control of Indonesia; Ong Hean Te of the Penang Environmental Working Group; Mao Da of the Global Village, Beijing; and Michelle Sunico of the Philippine Society for Oral Health Research.

The US Environmental Protection Agency ranks the health care sector as one of the biggest sources of mercury release in the atmosphere because of emissions from the incineration of medical waste.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to fetal development. Methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury found in most edible fish and seafood tissues, easily crosses the placenta, interfering with neurological development and causing deficits in cognitive ability, motor ability, speech development, memory, and attention.

Mercury is found in thermometers, blood pressure devices, lab chemicals, cleaners, and other health care products. It is also present in dental amalgam, a mixture of mercury and metal alloy that’s commonly used as dental filling.

Health care authorities say that the most common potential mode of occupational exposure to mercury is via inhalation of metallic liquid mercury vapors. Spills of even small amounts of elemental mercury – such as from broken thermometers – can pollute indoor air above recommended limits. And because mercury vapor is odorless and colorless, people can breathe it without knowing it.

But breathe easy now as the global health care industry is working real hard towards a mercury-free health care. Fact is, the use of mercury thermometrs has been restricted in some countries, if not banned without prescription. Cause-oriented groups are also encouraging doctors and hospitals to reduce, if not eliminate, their use of mercury-containing equipment.

Recently, the European Union passed a law banning the export of mercury beginning 2011. In the US, many states have banned the sale of mercury fever thermometers. According to a survey by the American Hospital Association and the US Environmental Protection Agency, most hospitals in the US are eliminating mercury.

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