How Aging is Changing

"The job of any doctor, Bludau later told me, is to support quality of life, by which he meant two things: as much freedom from the ravages of disease as possible, and the retention of enough function for active engagement in the world. Most doctors treat disease, and figure that the rest will take care of itself." In this in-depth New Yorker article, celebrated author Dr. Atul Gawande reflects on the process of aging from various perspectives: medical, sociological, and personal. It is an inquiry only increasingly relevant. In 1950, 11% of the U.S. population was under 5, and 1% over eighty. Today, there are as many 50-year-olds as 5-year-olds, and in thirty years, there will be as many people over 80 as there are under 5. Medicine has increased the ranks of the elderly. Can it make old age any easier?

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