zondag 20 november 2011

Age UK is accused of ending key research into ageing


Age UK is accused of ending key research into ageing
Age UK stopped funding research in the biology of ageing, instead the country’s leading charity for older people funds studies that deliver short term effects. Faragher, a professor at the University of Brighton and an expert on premature ageing mentioned, “Without basic research, you have nothing to translate. If you focus on the short term, you never make the problem go away.” The aim of research on long term ageing related topics is to lengthen the time for people to remain fit and well.

My opinion is that it’s a bad thing to stop funding fundamental research into the biology of ageing. I think that money is better spent on long term topics than on topics which deliver short term effects. When people remain fit and healthy for a longer period of time means that they will be able to work longer as well. Age related diseases like cancer will also be delayed resulting into less costs to take care of people with diseases like cancer. Another important thing Faragher points out is that life expectancy rises while there are no major medical breakthroughs. On average, age-related diseases and disabilities hit when people reach their late sixties.

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