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ePaper created 2015-05-06, 08:18:29 | version 1.38.0
HEALTH38 W hen you think about Danny DeVito and Michael Douglas, you are probably thinking about great cinema films. In the case of Jimmy Page, you will probably associate the name with the great sound of a rock guitar, and when it comes to Motown – this is linked with Gladys Knight or Diana Ross for all eternity. But when it comes to these VIPs, hardly anyone will think about them as aged individuals. However, all of these stars celebrated their 70th birthdays last year. What Danny DeVito and Co. demonstrate is that ageing has lost its scariness especially in the industrial nations. The generation 60 plus today is no longer wrinkled elderly ladies with aprons and bent-over men with a walking stick. This generation is also present and in the public eye and actively participates in social activities. Because never before have older persons been so mentally and physically fit, and never before has the life expectancy been as high as it is today. Whereas men and women born in 1900 mostly did not celebrate more than 50 years of life, the life expectancy today in many developed countries is at least 81 years. New drugs, new medical devices and new therapeutic treatments all make this possible. However, the ageing society costs money. Because with increasing age, the risk of certain diseases also increases. Dementia belongs here just as much cancer, the risk of a heart attack increases just as much as the risk of diabetes or osteoporosis. At the same time, there are increasingly improved medical check-ups and methods of treatment. As a consequence: the health care market is growing, especially in the wealthy industrial nations. In most of the OECD countries, expenditures on health care make up a large and still increasing part of public and private expenditures. For example: no other industrial country spends as much money for health care services as in the USA – in 2011, this amounted to about 17.7% of eco- nomic output, far more than in The Netherlands (11.9%) and France (11.6%). And not including the considerable private expenditures, which are clearly higher here than in many other countries, the USA is still way ahead: it spends 8.5% of its gross domestic product on health care. By comparison: the EU average is 6.4%, and the OECD average is 6.7%. Mobility without adverse effects The significance of the US market is also of great inter- est to Heraeus, says Dr. André Kobelt, General Manager Heraeus Medical and Head of the Health Cluster. “As a globally positioned company, we closely follow the markets and the USA is an important one for us.” Because here too – as in other industrial nations – the increase in the number of worn-out joints is a clear indicator of an ageing population. Hip and knee joint operations are on the in- crease. In this respect, implant materials from Heraeus are being increasingly used, such as bone cement which has an antibiotic activity. This material is particularly suitable to meet the requirements of changing health care mar- kets. “In development, we always keep the overall costs and integrated care in mind”, explains Kobelt. In the case of bone cement, this means: the addition of antibiotics ensures that the risk of a revision due to infection can be reduced and thus subsequent and expensive replacement operations can be avoided. Because up until now, infections Healthcare systems are undergoing a state of radical change. The added plus regarding the quality of life, which improved treatments offer, still has to remain affordable for everyone. For this reason, Heraeus is already offering medical devices today which make therapies more effective and enable new treatment methods, allowing diseases to be combated more cost effectively.