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Volume 3, Issue 2 (2024)
GMJM 2024, 3(2): 47-55 |
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Received: 2023/10/3 | Accepted: 2024/05/5 | Published: 2024/06/15
Received: 2023/10/3 | Accepted: 2024/05/5 | Published: 2024/06/15
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Sheykhi M. Aging vs Alzheimer’s Disorders and Medicaments in Developing World. GMJM 2024; 3 (2) :47-55
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M.T. Sheykhi *
Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
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Introduction
The paper reflects an image of Alzheimer's disorders in the world. The world's elderly people are facing Alzheimer's disorders within the emerging aging people leaving behind various issues. Aging in Iran is also parallel to poverty and health deficiency. People are getting older before becoming rich. The Spread of Alzheimer's disorders, while needing more and additional capital to invest, is in a low position of investment. Under such circumstances, the countries of the region need new paradigms and policies to combat the emerging Alzheimer's within the aging cohorts. Aging, as a new phase of life, needs new strategies to put into effect to take care of those involved with Alzheimer's disorders. Aging as a new part of life needs more scientific studies and the practice of plans to modify the issue. Issues stemming from family relations, food services, retirement, economic well-being, and Alzheimer's disorders of the aging population are sociologically appraised in the present article. Age-related topics are studied, and the demographic profiles highlight the relevant issues of the phenomenon. The scenario leads to new challenges, particularly in Asia, where the history of aging is not too old. We have tried to understand how aging affects the quality of life in all areas. With a larger population and young population structure, Asia will experience aging even faster than the West. While aging is a process in Asia, food services and Alzheimer's disorders services move slowly. However, per capita income, financial resources of the elderly, etc., all affect the aging population's quality of life and food services.
Age, being a characteristic that every society moves people into and out of statuses, roles, rights, and obligations, is reflected differently in various societies. The process of creating social categories based on age is known as age grading and aging and varies from culture to culture and from one historical period to another. We will see how changes in the proportion of people in a population at each age level have important social consequences in different societies. One of our objectives in this paper is to find out the connotation of such changes in Asia. Population aging or graying due to increased longevity and a declining birth rate are more prevalent in the industrial world rather than in the developing world. This article finds out how, due to changes in population structure, population aging and Alzheimer's will immediately change trends in the decades ahead, with special reference to Asia. Population aging is an unprecedented phenomenon in human history, and it is increasingly observed in the developed and developing world, leaving behind social, economic, health, and food problems and Alzheimer's disorders [1]. An increase in the proportions of the elderly (60 years and older), accompanied by declines in the proportions of the young age groups (under the age of 15), have created various problems or are potentially responsible for challenges in different dimensions. According to projections, by the year 2050, the number of older persons in the world will exceed the number of young for the first time in history [2]. Such a scenario will lead to new food and other challenges in human life. However, by 1998, this historic reversal in relative proportions of the young and the old had already taken place in more developed regions [3].
The phenomenon of aging, being pervasive, is affecting each and every one of us in every society, irrespective of age and sex. It directly affects intergenerational equity and solidarity, which are the foundations of societies. Hence, quality of life was widely affected by this change. Likewise, the consequences and implications of aging are reflected in all facets of life, such as affecting the quality of life, poverty, and Alzheimer's in all areas. For example, in the economic area, population aging will have impacts on economic growth, saving, investment, consumption, labor market, pensions, taxation, etc. Also, in the social sphere, aging affects health and health care, food, family composition, Alzheimer's, living arrangements, housing, etc. All these, and even more, inevitably affect various dimensions of quality of life. However, the trend towards aging is largely irreversible in the decades to come simply as a result of the demographic transition taking place in the world in which fertility and mortality both have decreased in an unprecedented manner. According to the UN estimates, the world added approximately 600 million older people to its population at the turn of the century, i.e., almost 3 times the number it had in the middle of the 20th century. However, by the middle of the 21st century, the world's aging people will again triple -reaching about 2 billion. Such a great change in population structure needs more attention, relevant resources, food, and appropriate planning at all levels [4]. Though the developed regions experienced aging earlier, the less developed regions, including Asia, are following the same path. In the more developed world, particularly in Western Europe, almost one-fifth of the population was estimated to be 60 years and older in the year 2000. By the year 2050, this proportion is projected to reach one-third. On the other hand, while only about eight percent of the population in Asia is currently over the age of 60, this proportion will increase to 20 percent by the middle of the 21st century [5]. Such a dramatic change will need relevant and appropriate infrastructures, including medicaments, to be able to handle the aging Asian population and to be adequately responsive to the quality-of-life needs and the Alzheimer's disorders of the emerging elderly.
As the speed of population aging is much faster in Asia than Europe and the whole developed world, Asia has much more to do to adjust to the
consequences of such an aging population. Likewise, population aging in Asia is taking place at much lower socio-economic development levels than in Europe in the mid of the 20th century. Demographically speaking, in 2000, the median age for the world was 26 years. The country with the youngest population is Yemen, with a median age of 15 years; the oldest is Japan, with the same indicator of 41 years. By 2050, the world median age is projected to have increased by about 10 years, i.e., to 36 years. The country with the youngest population at that time is predicted to be Niger in Africa, with a median age of 20 years, and the oldest is expected to be Spain, with a median age of 55 years by that year [2]. Such a change will give a different perspective to the aging population regarding their quality of life. A new phenomenon of “elderly aging” is also growing, and it is estimated that those aged 80 years are currently increasing at the rate of 3.8 percent per annum, the number of which comprise more than one-tenth of the total number of older people [5]. Under such conditions, one-fifth of the older persons will be 80 years and older by the middle of the 21st century. Such a scenario indicates that the dependency burden on working age groups (15-46) will be remarkable and heavy. While the majority of the aging population are women, more is due to the fact that the female life expectancy is higher than that of men; as estimated in the year 2000, 36 million more women than men aged 60 years and above were found. Also, as the ratio will have more change/ gap at the age of 80 and above, i.e., almost two men for every five women, more specific plans should be implemented so as to protect the quality of life of such potentially vulnerable people [5]. So far as the income is concerned, countries with higher per capita income tend to have lower rates of elderly participation, and on the contrary, to a greater extent, older people participate in labor markets in less developed regions, including Asia, largely due to the limited coverage of retirement schemes, and the small incomes when provided [4]. Therefore, many have to work even at ages unsuitable and recommended for their physical conditions, eventually leading to a poor quality of life. Another factor responsible for low quality of life among the elderly is known as illiteracy. Though a lot of efforts have been made to eradicate illiteracy, it is common, especially among the Asian elderly population. According to the estimates, almost half of all the people 60 years and above in the less developed regions, including Asia, have been declared as illiterate by the year 2000. Only about 1/3 of older women and three-fifths of older men
could read and write at a basic level, whereas in Europe, literacy has almost reached full coverage except in some countries [4]. In the study of older people in modern society, growing attention has been focused on their life–satisfaction, and quality of life [6]. Life–satisfaction is related to the degree to which people feel they achieve their aspirations and access appropriate food, morale, and happiness. However, how quality of life is measured is difficult to decide. In a nutshell, ways of measuring the quality of life of elderly people could include their individual characteristics, physical and mental health, dependency, housing, social environment, comforts, food services, security, etc. However, to develop a system of health care and security for the elderly, paying special attention to the needs of the women is highly recommended with a view to enhancing the ability of families to take care of the elderly people within the families in general.
Scope of the issue in Iran
Alzheimer's disease, an aging problem across the world, is the result of dementia in Iran as well. According to statistics, one in ten of the Iranian people is afflicted with Alzheimer's disorders [4]. There are more than 700.000 Alzheimer's patients in the country [4]. Under such circumstances, no responsible institutions in the country can look after such growing patients. Alzheimer's disease, as one of the most common diseases, is a result of aging, appearing due to loss in brain functioning, but many people simply know it as forgetfulness. It could be evaluated by a doctor while being described by the patient. However, Iran has been described as a high-risk country as far as Alzheimer's disease is concerned. According to "World Life Expectancy," in 2014, Iran's ranking stood 30th among 116 countries with an indicator of 7.75. In the same table, Finland had the indicator of 53.77 standing at the top of the table as far as Alzheimer's disease is concerned. Based on the Alzheimer's official site, a large number of people in the US are involved with Alzheimer's disease. Out of 5.4 million people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in the US, 5.2 million are over 65 years of age [7].
Old age crisis
While the age of retirement is decreasing in many parts of the developing world due to a large number of young people waiting to get into jobs, it is, in contrast, increasing in the Western world, especially in the European :union:, due to an increase in the number of aging people and lack of youth to enter into active production sector. However, the emerging problem is currently being solved in many European countries by attracting guest workers from developing countries. To ensure that financial support continues to protect the old and promotes economic growth, countries need to consider comprehensive pension reforms. Based on estimates, over the next 25 years, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 will nearly double, i.e., from 9 percent to 16 percent. However, populations are aging much faster in developing countries than they are in industrial countries. As today’s young workers near retirement around the year 2030, 80 percent of the world’s old people will live in what today are developing countries (mainly Asian) [5]. More than half will live in Asia, and more than a quarter in China alone [8]. These countries need to develop their old-age systems quickly and make them sufficiently resilient to withstand rapid demographic change. Under the conditions that the extended family system and village support networks on which two-thirds of the world’s old people depend tend to break down due to pressures of urbanization, industrialization, and rapid socio-cultural mobility, the elderly people come to be at a loss. As a result of all these factors, old-age systems are in serious financial trouble. However, the situation happens to be more acute in Asia.
In traditional communities, the work and organizational structure of the family were inter-connected. Relations and contacts within age groups were close, and there was mutual dependence between the young and the elderly groups. Such close connections and exchange of functions between generations within the family network ensured the survival of elderly people where there were no other forms of guaranteed social support in old age. This type of network allowed the elderly to have enough authority and participate in family functions based on the family division of labor. However, industrialization and the process of social change in Asia and Europe have led to social differentiation of age groups regarding economic functions, official retirement, and other such conditions [4]. Due to the modernization of societies in different educational, scientific, and technical aspects, the younger generations can provide for themselves. Therefore, the older generations are left isolated and dependent on pensions and other kinds of social help. This process eventually promotes the relative independence of generations from each other, diminishes the necessity for cooperation, and destroys family solidarity and mutual dependence. Therefore, in modern societies, responsibility for the elderly is becoming more and more formal and depersonalized. Under such a network, the elderly people do not play their former roles. They depart from the family, i.e., not carrying out the role of the grandparents, and the younger generations tend to require the support of the elderly Aleksandrova [9].
Socio-economic effects of aging
The inevitable harmful social and economic effects of aging are becoming obvious more than ever before, with special reference to Asia. Most prominent among the concerns that are being voiced with respect to aging is how to fund social security programs in the face of increasing numbers of retired persons and how to pay for rising healthcare costs generated by elderly people [10]. These concerns have, at times, led to the conclusion that population aging is bound to be more of a catastrophic drain on economic resources. Actually speaking, while the Western (European) countries are and will continue to be rather well equipped to handle the present and projected increase in the older population with their routine needs, the emergence of the elderly social problems such as Alzheimer's disorders is something more recent. The whole scenario is more problematic for Asian countries than Western European ones, wherein there are shortages of necessary infrastructures and societies rapidly changing to new cultural forms. Thus, the Asian elderly are much more socially and economically insecure in different dimensions. Living in a demographically diverse world has also led to unprecedented aging change. While the global population increased by two billion during the last quarter of the 20th century, reaching six billion in 2000, resources have not increased that much to respond to the increasing elderly with special reference to Asia. As projected, the population will increase by another two billion during the first decades of the 21st century, and as nearly all the increase has been and will be in developing countries, including Asia, aging problems will emerge more acutely, including Alzheimer's disorders than ever before [11]. Living in a world of unprecedented demographic diversity, we should be more cautious and planning-minded. As the traditional demographic groupings of countries are breaking down, more socio-economic problems of the aging populations are emerging. Over the next 25 years, population increases in South Asia and the Middle East are expected to be larger than in the past quarter of the century. In contrast, in European countries and in East Asia, population growth has slowed or stopped, and rapid population aging has become a serious concern [12]. Increasing levels of aging, accompanied by increasing mobility and urbanization, are affecting many countries' economic and social outlooks. The challenges found due to such diversities require adequate responses. The most urgent of these occurs where rapid population growth, high levels of poverty, and low levels of economic growth coincide. Under such conditions, the elderly face various problems.
The elderly vulnerability
Deteriorating environmental conditions and extreme events do not affect all countries and populations in the same way. Hence, many factors contribute to their vulnerability, including poverty, poor health, Alzheimer's disorders, low levels of education, gender inequality, lack of access to resources and services, and unfavorable geographical locations. All these, somehow or another, affect the elderly people more in Asia than in the West. Under conditions wherein the populations, in general, are socially disadvantaged or lack a political voice, the elderly people, in particular,, are also at greater risk. Vulnerable aging populations include the poorest, the least empowered segments, and especially the women. These vulnerable aging people have limited capacity to protect themselves from current and future environmental and social hazards, such as polluted air and water, catastrophes, and the adverse consequences of large-scale environmental change, such as biodiversity loss and climate change [13].
To ease and solve the problems of elderly people, especially in the Asian context, more interdisciplinary research and education addressing the above topics is necessary at all levels. The different disciplines should also conduct their studies in ways that make the result mutually accessible to the elderly.
The older widows
The aged members, especially old women, face serious situations in today’s family structure. The demographic scenario of aging indicates a rise in the longevity of women [14]. As the proportion of elderly people increases in society, the increasing proportion of widows and widowers, too, is very likely to emerge. Comparing the proportion of widows with the widowers, the number of the former is higher due to the fact that women marry earlier than men, and also, they tend to outlive men. Similarly, after the age of 60, women have the chance of a longer life. The chance of remarriage for men in their later life keeps the proportion of widowers lower than the widows almost everywhere. However, the consequences of widowhood leading to isolation, loneliness, and Alzheimer's disorders are more faced by women rather than men. Research shows that widowhood appears as an effect of marital dissolution worldwide. Apart from divorce, it, in most cases, happens as a natural event due to the death of a spouse. In both cases, women tend to suffer longer terms of negative social and economic consequences, while men do not [15].
In spite of recognizing the problems faced by elderly widows in many parts of Asia, governments are not ready to take more responsibility but want the individual family to help its members in a crisis situation such as widowhood. The challenges widows faced towards the end of the 20th century have aggravated even today among many widows. To solve and improve the problem, different institutions' assistance, cooperation, and contributions are required.
The theoretical context of aging
Aging as a transition in life is fundamentally different from other ascribed statuses, such as race and gender. Being black or white, male or female, is a lifelong status, except in rare cases. Age, in contrast, is a transitional status because people periodically move from one age category to another.
This process of a person moving through life from birth to death is called aging.
As people age, they face different sets of expectations and responsibilities, enjoy different rights and opportunities, and possess different amounts of power and control. Consequently, transitions from one age status to another are societally important [16]. They are often marked by rites of passage and public ceremonies, which are full of ritual symbolism that records the transition being made. Weddings, retirement dinners, funerals, etc., are all examples of rites of passage in an industrial society. They are somehow or the other different in different societies.
The five key sociological concepts will help us better understand the aging process as we explore further the ideas of age, aging, and age structure with Asian and European connotations. Age structure is a specific element of the social structure of all human societies, which helps a society allocate its resources.
Also, historical or cultural differences in age structure create different contexts for social action by individuals and groups. Changes in age structure also bring about problems of functional integration. Different proportions of age groups in a population affect power, too, such as age for voting, etc. Discussion of the meanings of age connotation in different societies is different from one culture to another. Generally speaking, age shapes the flow of people into and out of social roles and statuses (social networks) and the rights and responsibilities that go with them, which are different from one society to another. Age also organizes the distribution of valued resources in a society, such as money, power, and prestige [17]. From the point of view of conflict theory, old people became a social problem when those in power in the industrial world found it advantageous to push them aside. As the Industrial Revolution spread out more than a hundred years ago, managers of big businesses found old people a nuisance. At that time, they drew more wages than young workers who wanted the jobs of older workers. As older workers were pushed out of their jobs, the percentage of those over 60 who worked declined steadily. As the aged lost out to younger groups, with the new technical and institutional resources, the meaning of retire changed from “to withdraw from public notice” to “to be no longer qualified for active service” [18]. To be old comes to mean to be cast away; that is, to have almost nothing and to be dependent on whatever someone might give you (in old age). Conflict theory also explains how older people reacted to the social changes that brought them poverty and deprivation. They consolidated into a powerful lobbying force for social security. Therefore, the social security benefits currently available for the aging population are the result of direct conflict between competing interest groups. The old banded together to push their interests and concerns, and that was a starting point for the aging benefits in the West. The conflict perspective emphasizes that power, privilege, and other resources are limited and that they are distributed unequally among the various groups in society. As it pursues its own interests and values, each group comes in conflict with the others. Thus, say conflict theorists, whenever you examine a social problem, you should look at the distribution of power and privilege, for social problems center around the conflicting interests and values of a society’s groups [19]. Conflict in society, then, is both natural and inevitable. Though it always existed, it played highly a vital role in providing the elderly with retirement security, especially in the West in the early 20th century. Therefore, the poor and neglected elderly could reach their rights with the framework of conflict theory.
Asian outlook
In Asia, aging has become an issue of concern for different sectors of governments dealing with the socio-economic needs of elderly people. Though older people are expected to be respected, many societies are witnessing a new trend. Because of rural-urban migration, industrialization, and shifting employment patterns among the younger adult population, older persons are facing increased social isolation and many other challenges, including Alzheimer's disorders in many Asian regions, particularly in rural areas. From a socio-psychological point of view, these isolated people in a community, such as a large city, feel alienated [20].
However, in some countries such as Thailand, elderly people are valued for contributing to society and encouraged to remain active [21]. In addition to many other roles played by the seniors, most of the older persons in Thailand play a leading role in religious observances by supervising and providing information concerning religious activities to younger families and community members. They also transmit their traditions and culture to the younger generations. Though developing Asian countries have been experiencing rapid social, cultural, and economic changes, the conditions of the elderly have not improved and have changed in a satisfactory manner. As far as the elderly women are concerned, they are in a worse situation. They are identified as subordinates to men throughout their lives, and when they are ultimately left alone when get old, they are deeply poor and destitute. In developed countries, retirement is expected to be the period to enjoy personal and leisure activities. In developing Asian countries, the elderly are still preoccupied with their basic livelihood. As social welfare and health insurance in many developing Asian countries have limited resources, individual financial resources play a significant role in enhancing and improving one’s quality of life [22]. Under such a scenario, the elderly in developing Asia remain financially dependent on others. To illustrate it more thoroughly, they psychologically and physically depend more on others than the state or the relevant agencies. Very few Asian countries have infrastructures enough to help the unable and elderly people with Alzheimer's disorders. One of the countries well-functioning in the course is known as Singapore, wherein the strong financial resources have helped the aging population and thereby enhanced their quality of life in different ways [23]. Modernization in many parts of Asia has greatly influenced the lives of the elderly due to increasing changes in the family structure and ties, more mobility among families, more employment by women, etc. All these have caused the families to be more segmented, and consequently, they do not have enough time to invest in elderly people. Also, with the increasing decline in fertility and mortality rates, population aging is appearing more than ever before: generating significant demands for long-term care. Hence, demographic trends are dramatically changing the face of many Asian nations or will soon do so. One way of measuring the speed of these shifts is through a measure of “population aging”. Although the phenomenon is very recent in Asia, it is rapidly spreading in many parts of the continent.
However, as explored, the majority of the elderly still wish to live with their adult children. There is clear evidence showing the familial and family-feeling among the elderly in most parts of Asia. Modernization is seen as a paradoxical phenomenon in Asia since it erodes the traditional support system [24]. However, today, elderly people have come into the agenda of many Asian countries, as has happened in the West previously. Similarly, Asia too needs to develop enough literature on the topic. It is becoming the region where the majority of the elderly people are concentrated. That is to say, the majority (52%) of the world’s senior citizens (people 60 and over) live in Asia; four in every fifteen are concentrated in Eastern Asia, including China, and one in six inhabit South-central Asia, including India [25]. Similarly, about one in fifteen live in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, and Western Asia includes the rest. Such development is largely due to economic success in the region and a result of population control success since the early 1980s. Increased life expectancy also resulted in or is a consequence of improved health care and living standards. This has led to increasing old age in all societies, but more so in the Western world. However, until around the 1970s, many countries, especially in Southeast Asia, were still considered to have young populations; since the 1980s, the older age categories have increased, making it necessary to examine the conditions of these growing elderly people with special reference to their food habits. It is noted that since the 1950s, the life expectancy of men has increased by 20 years or more in Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand and by 15 years in Japan. While the number of women has even increased more dramatically [26], these developments have eventually resulted in an accelerated increase in the proportion of elderly people in almost all parts of Asia, but with some fluctuations. The conditions of elderly people are not the same all over Asia. For example, in Southeast Asia, the proportion of those aged 60 and over is not yet as high as in Japan. There is a growing concern in this regard since the necessary institutional arrangements for taking care of them outside the family are not yet in place. Therefore, much has to be done to bring it in order and adequacy.
European outlook
The establishment of individual and universal mandatory pension rights has come to be known as an efficient way to eradicate poverty in old age among both women and men. Health promotion and the well-being of these people in Europe are among the issues that have been of priority and are well attended to in Europe as compared with Asia in the course of the twentieth century [27]. Sociologically speaking, the discipline of sociology came into being to explore and solve, inter alia, the emerging challenges and the social issues of elderly people and thereby enhance their quality of life. A major task of sociology is to analyze social problems; gradually, social welfare was first enhanced in Europe, leading to a social order that included the elderly welfare.
“Modernization”, which first occurred in Europe, was a multidimensional concept. It was divided into four distinct elements:
The paper reflects an image of Alzheimer's disorders in the world. The world's elderly people are facing Alzheimer's disorders within the emerging aging people leaving behind various issues. Aging in Iran is also parallel to poverty and health deficiency. People are getting older before becoming rich. The Spread of Alzheimer's disorders, while needing more and additional capital to invest, is in a low position of investment. Under such circumstances, the countries of the region need new paradigms and policies to combat the emerging Alzheimer's within the aging cohorts. Aging, as a new phase of life, needs new strategies to put into effect to take care of those involved with Alzheimer's disorders. Aging as a new part of life needs more scientific studies and the practice of plans to modify the issue. Issues stemming from family relations, food services, retirement, economic well-being, and Alzheimer's disorders of the aging population are sociologically appraised in the present article. Age-related topics are studied, and the demographic profiles highlight the relevant issues of the phenomenon. The scenario leads to new challenges, particularly in Asia, where the history of aging is not too old. We have tried to understand how aging affects the quality of life in all areas. With a larger population and young population structure, Asia will experience aging even faster than the West. While aging is a process in Asia, food services and Alzheimer's disorders services move slowly. However, per capita income, financial resources of the elderly, etc., all affect the aging population's quality of life and food services.
Age, being a characteristic that every society moves people into and out of statuses, roles, rights, and obligations, is reflected differently in various societies. The process of creating social categories based on age is known as age grading and aging and varies from culture to culture and from one historical period to another. We will see how changes in the proportion of people in a population at each age level have important social consequences in different societies. One of our objectives in this paper is to find out the connotation of such changes in Asia. Population aging or graying due to increased longevity and a declining birth rate are more prevalent in the industrial world rather than in the developing world. This article finds out how, due to changes in population structure, population aging and Alzheimer's will immediately change trends in the decades ahead, with special reference to Asia. Population aging is an unprecedented phenomenon in human history, and it is increasingly observed in the developed and developing world, leaving behind social, economic, health, and food problems and Alzheimer's disorders [1]. An increase in the proportions of the elderly (60 years and older), accompanied by declines in the proportions of the young age groups (under the age of 15), have created various problems or are potentially responsible for challenges in different dimensions. According to projections, by the year 2050, the number of older persons in the world will exceed the number of young for the first time in history [2]. Such a scenario will lead to new food and other challenges in human life. However, by 1998, this historic reversal in relative proportions of the young and the old had already taken place in more developed regions [3].
The phenomenon of aging, being pervasive, is affecting each and every one of us in every society, irrespective of age and sex. It directly affects intergenerational equity and solidarity, which are the foundations of societies. Hence, quality of life was widely affected by this change. Likewise, the consequences and implications of aging are reflected in all facets of life, such as affecting the quality of life, poverty, and Alzheimer's in all areas. For example, in the economic area, population aging will have impacts on economic growth, saving, investment, consumption, labor market, pensions, taxation, etc. Also, in the social sphere, aging affects health and health care, food, family composition, Alzheimer's, living arrangements, housing, etc. All these, and even more, inevitably affect various dimensions of quality of life. However, the trend towards aging is largely irreversible in the decades to come simply as a result of the demographic transition taking place in the world in which fertility and mortality both have decreased in an unprecedented manner. According to the UN estimates, the world added approximately 600 million older people to its population at the turn of the century, i.e., almost 3 times the number it had in the middle of the 20th century. However, by the middle of the 21st century, the world's aging people will again triple -reaching about 2 billion. Such a great change in population structure needs more attention, relevant resources, food, and appropriate planning at all levels [4]. Though the developed regions experienced aging earlier, the less developed regions, including Asia, are following the same path. In the more developed world, particularly in Western Europe, almost one-fifth of the population was estimated to be 60 years and older in the year 2000. By the year 2050, this proportion is projected to reach one-third. On the other hand, while only about eight percent of the population in Asia is currently over the age of 60, this proportion will increase to 20 percent by the middle of the 21st century [5]. Such a dramatic change will need relevant and appropriate infrastructures, including medicaments, to be able to handle the aging Asian population and to be adequately responsive to the quality-of-life needs and the Alzheimer's disorders of the emerging elderly.
As the speed of population aging is much faster in Asia than Europe and the whole developed world, Asia has much more to do to adjust to the
consequences of such an aging population. Likewise, population aging in Asia is taking place at much lower socio-economic development levels than in Europe in the mid of the 20th century. Demographically speaking, in 2000, the median age for the world was 26 years. The country with the youngest population is Yemen, with a median age of 15 years; the oldest is Japan, with the same indicator of 41 years. By 2050, the world median age is projected to have increased by about 10 years, i.e., to 36 years. The country with the youngest population at that time is predicted to be Niger in Africa, with a median age of 20 years, and the oldest is expected to be Spain, with a median age of 55 years by that year [2]. Such a change will give a different perspective to the aging population regarding their quality of life. A new phenomenon of “elderly aging” is also growing, and it is estimated that those aged 80 years are currently increasing at the rate of 3.8 percent per annum, the number of which comprise more than one-tenth of the total number of older people [5]. Under such conditions, one-fifth of the older persons will be 80 years and older by the middle of the 21st century. Such a scenario indicates that the dependency burden on working age groups (15-46) will be remarkable and heavy. While the majority of the aging population are women, more is due to the fact that the female life expectancy is higher than that of men; as estimated in the year 2000, 36 million more women than men aged 60 years and above were found. Also, as the ratio will have more change/ gap at the age of 80 and above, i.e., almost two men for every five women, more specific plans should be implemented so as to protect the quality of life of such potentially vulnerable people [5]. So far as the income is concerned, countries with higher per capita income tend to have lower rates of elderly participation, and on the contrary, to a greater extent, older people participate in labor markets in less developed regions, including Asia, largely due to the limited coverage of retirement schemes, and the small incomes when provided [4]. Therefore, many have to work even at ages unsuitable and recommended for their physical conditions, eventually leading to a poor quality of life. Another factor responsible for low quality of life among the elderly is known as illiteracy. Though a lot of efforts have been made to eradicate illiteracy, it is common, especially among the Asian elderly population. According to the estimates, almost half of all the people 60 years and above in the less developed regions, including Asia, have been declared as illiterate by the year 2000. Only about 1/3 of older women and three-fifths of older men
could read and write at a basic level, whereas in Europe, literacy has almost reached full coverage except in some countries [4]. In the study of older people in modern society, growing attention has been focused on their life–satisfaction, and quality of life [6]. Life–satisfaction is related to the degree to which people feel they achieve their aspirations and access appropriate food, morale, and happiness. However, how quality of life is measured is difficult to decide. In a nutshell, ways of measuring the quality of life of elderly people could include their individual characteristics, physical and mental health, dependency, housing, social environment, comforts, food services, security, etc. However, to develop a system of health care and security for the elderly, paying special attention to the needs of the women is highly recommended with a view to enhancing the ability of families to take care of the elderly people within the families in general.
Scope of the issue in Iran
Alzheimer's disease, an aging problem across the world, is the result of dementia in Iran as well. According to statistics, one in ten of the Iranian people is afflicted with Alzheimer's disorders [4]. There are more than 700.000 Alzheimer's patients in the country [4]. Under such circumstances, no responsible institutions in the country can look after such growing patients. Alzheimer's disease, as one of the most common diseases, is a result of aging, appearing due to loss in brain functioning, but many people simply know it as forgetfulness. It could be evaluated by a doctor while being described by the patient. However, Iran has been described as a high-risk country as far as Alzheimer's disease is concerned. According to "World Life Expectancy," in 2014, Iran's ranking stood 30th among 116 countries with an indicator of 7.75. In the same table, Finland had the indicator of 53.77 standing at the top of the table as far as Alzheimer's disease is concerned. Based on the Alzheimer's official site, a large number of people in the US are involved with Alzheimer's disease. Out of 5.4 million people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in the US, 5.2 million are over 65 years of age [7].
Old age crisis
While the age of retirement is decreasing in many parts of the developing world due to a large number of young people waiting to get into jobs, it is, in contrast, increasing in the Western world, especially in the European :union:, due to an increase in the number of aging people and lack of youth to enter into active production sector. However, the emerging problem is currently being solved in many European countries by attracting guest workers from developing countries. To ensure that financial support continues to protect the old and promotes economic growth, countries need to consider comprehensive pension reforms. Based on estimates, over the next 25 years, the proportion of the world’s population over 60 will nearly double, i.e., from 9 percent to 16 percent. However, populations are aging much faster in developing countries than they are in industrial countries. As today’s young workers near retirement around the year 2030, 80 percent of the world’s old people will live in what today are developing countries (mainly Asian) [5]. More than half will live in Asia, and more than a quarter in China alone [8]. These countries need to develop their old-age systems quickly and make them sufficiently resilient to withstand rapid demographic change. Under the conditions that the extended family system and village support networks on which two-thirds of the world’s old people depend tend to break down due to pressures of urbanization, industrialization, and rapid socio-cultural mobility, the elderly people come to be at a loss. As a result of all these factors, old-age systems are in serious financial trouble. However, the situation happens to be more acute in Asia.
In traditional communities, the work and organizational structure of the family were inter-connected. Relations and contacts within age groups were close, and there was mutual dependence between the young and the elderly groups. Such close connections and exchange of functions between generations within the family network ensured the survival of elderly people where there were no other forms of guaranteed social support in old age. This type of network allowed the elderly to have enough authority and participate in family functions based on the family division of labor. However, industrialization and the process of social change in Asia and Europe have led to social differentiation of age groups regarding economic functions, official retirement, and other such conditions [4]. Due to the modernization of societies in different educational, scientific, and technical aspects, the younger generations can provide for themselves. Therefore, the older generations are left isolated and dependent on pensions and other kinds of social help. This process eventually promotes the relative independence of generations from each other, diminishes the necessity for cooperation, and destroys family solidarity and mutual dependence. Therefore, in modern societies, responsibility for the elderly is becoming more and more formal and depersonalized. Under such a network, the elderly people do not play their former roles. They depart from the family, i.e., not carrying out the role of the grandparents, and the younger generations tend to require the support of the elderly Aleksandrova [9].
Socio-economic effects of aging
The inevitable harmful social and economic effects of aging are becoming obvious more than ever before, with special reference to Asia. Most prominent among the concerns that are being voiced with respect to aging is how to fund social security programs in the face of increasing numbers of retired persons and how to pay for rising healthcare costs generated by elderly people [10]. These concerns have, at times, led to the conclusion that population aging is bound to be more of a catastrophic drain on economic resources. Actually speaking, while the Western (European) countries are and will continue to be rather well equipped to handle the present and projected increase in the older population with their routine needs, the emergence of the elderly social problems such as Alzheimer's disorders is something more recent. The whole scenario is more problematic for Asian countries than Western European ones, wherein there are shortages of necessary infrastructures and societies rapidly changing to new cultural forms. Thus, the Asian elderly are much more socially and economically insecure in different dimensions. Living in a demographically diverse world has also led to unprecedented aging change. While the global population increased by two billion during the last quarter of the 20th century, reaching six billion in 2000, resources have not increased that much to respond to the increasing elderly with special reference to Asia. As projected, the population will increase by another two billion during the first decades of the 21st century, and as nearly all the increase has been and will be in developing countries, including Asia, aging problems will emerge more acutely, including Alzheimer's disorders than ever before [11]. Living in a world of unprecedented demographic diversity, we should be more cautious and planning-minded. As the traditional demographic groupings of countries are breaking down, more socio-economic problems of the aging populations are emerging. Over the next 25 years, population increases in South Asia and the Middle East are expected to be larger than in the past quarter of the century. In contrast, in European countries and in East Asia, population growth has slowed or stopped, and rapid population aging has become a serious concern [12]. Increasing levels of aging, accompanied by increasing mobility and urbanization, are affecting many countries' economic and social outlooks. The challenges found due to such diversities require adequate responses. The most urgent of these occurs where rapid population growth, high levels of poverty, and low levels of economic growth coincide. Under such conditions, the elderly face various problems.
The elderly vulnerability
Deteriorating environmental conditions and extreme events do not affect all countries and populations in the same way. Hence, many factors contribute to their vulnerability, including poverty, poor health, Alzheimer's disorders, low levels of education, gender inequality, lack of access to resources and services, and unfavorable geographical locations. All these, somehow or another, affect the elderly people more in Asia than in the West. Under conditions wherein the populations, in general, are socially disadvantaged or lack a political voice, the elderly people, in particular,, are also at greater risk. Vulnerable aging populations include the poorest, the least empowered segments, and especially the women. These vulnerable aging people have limited capacity to protect themselves from current and future environmental and social hazards, such as polluted air and water, catastrophes, and the adverse consequences of large-scale environmental change, such as biodiversity loss and climate change [13].
To ease and solve the problems of elderly people, especially in the Asian context, more interdisciplinary research and education addressing the above topics is necessary at all levels. The different disciplines should also conduct their studies in ways that make the result mutually accessible to the elderly.
The older widows
The aged members, especially old women, face serious situations in today’s family structure. The demographic scenario of aging indicates a rise in the longevity of women [14]. As the proportion of elderly people increases in society, the increasing proportion of widows and widowers, too, is very likely to emerge. Comparing the proportion of widows with the widowers, the number of the former is higher due to the fact that women marry earlier than men, and also, they tend to outlive men. Similarly, after the age of 60, women have the chance of a longer life. The chance of remarriage for men in their later life keeps the proportion of widowers lower than the widows almost everywhere. However, the consequences of widowhood leading to isolation, loneliness, and Alzheimer's disorders are more faced by women rather than men. Research shows that widowhood appears as an effect of marital dissolution worldwide. Apart from divorce, it, in most cases, happens as a natural event due to the death of a spouse. In both cases, women tend to suffer longer terms of negative social and economic consequences, while men do not [15].
In spite of recognizing the problems faced by elderly widows in many parts of Asia, governments are not ready to take more responsibility but want the individual family to help its members in a crisis situation such as widowhood. The challenges widows faced towards the end of the 20th century have aggravated even today among many widows. To solve and improve the problem, different institutions' assistance, cooperation, and contributions are required.
The theoretical context of aging
Aging as a transition in life is fundamentally different from other ascribed statuses, such as race and gender. Being black or white, male or female, is a lifelong status, except in rare cases. Age, in contrast, is a transitional status because people periodically move from one age category to another.
This process of a person moving through life from birth to death is called aging.
As people age, they face different sets of expectations and responsibilities, enjoy different rights and opportunities, and possess different amounts of power and control. Consequently, transitions from one age status to another are societally important [16]. They are often marked by rites of passage and public ceremonies, which are full of ritual symbolism that records the transition being made. Weddings, retirement dinners, funerals, etc., are all examples of rites of passage in an industrial society. They are somehow or the other different in different societies.
The five key sociological concepts will help us better understand the aging process as we explore further the ideas of age, aging, and age structure with Asian and European connotations. Age structure is a specific element of the social structure of all human societies, which helps a society allocate its resources.
Also, historical or cultural differences in age structure create different contexts for social action by individuals and groups. Changes in age structure also bring about problems of functional integration. Different proportions of age groups in a population affect power, too, such as age for voting, etc. Discussion of the meanings of age connotation in different societies is different from one culture to another. Generally speaking, age shapes the flow of people into and out of social roles and statuses (social networks) and the rights and responsibilities that go with them, which are different from one society to another. Age also organizes the distribution of valued resources in a society, such as money, power, and prestige [17]. From the point of view of conflict theory, old people became a social problem when those in power in the industrial world found it advantageous to push them aside. As the Industrial Revolution spread out more than a hundred years ago, managers of big businesses found old people a nuisance. At that time, they drew more wages than young workers who wanted the jobs of older workers. As older workers were pushed out of their jobs, the percentage of those over 60 who worked declined steadily. As the aged lost out to younger groups, with the new technical and institutional resources, the meaning of retire changed from “to withdraw from public notice” to “to be no longer qualified for active service” [18]. To be old comes to mean to be cast away; that is, to have almost nothing and to be dependent on whatever someone might give you (in old age). Conflict theory also explains how older people reacted to the social changes that brought them poverty and deprivation. They consolidated into a powerful lobbying force for social security. Therefore, the social security benefits currently available for the aging population are the result of direct conflict between competing interest groups. The old banded together to push their interests and concerns, and that was a starting point for the aging benefits in the West. The conflict perspective emphasizes that power, privilege, and other resources are limited and that they are distributed unequally among the various groups in society. As it pursues its own interests and values, each group comes in conflict with the others. Thus, say conflict theorists, whenever you examine a social problem, you should look at the distribution of power and privilege, for social problems center around the conflicting interests and values of a society’s groups [19]. Conflict in society, then, is both natural and inevitable. Though it always existed, it played highly a vital role in providing the elderly with retirement security, especially in the West in the early 20th century. Therefore, the poor and neglected elderly could reach their rights with the framework of conflict theory.
Asian outlook
In Asia, aging has become an issue of concern for different sectors of governments dealing with the socio-economic needs of elderly people. Though older people are expected to be respected, many societies are witnessing a new trend. Because of rural-urban migration, industrialization, and shifting employment patterns among the younger adult population, older persons are facing increased social isolation and many other challenges, including Alzheimer's disorders in many Asian regions, particularly in rural areas. From a socio-psychological point of view, these isolated people in a community, such as a large city, feel alienated [20].
However, in some countries such as Thailand, elderly people are valued for contributing to society and encouraged to remain active [21]. In addition to many other roles played by the seniors, most of the older persons in Thailand play a leading role in religious observances by supervising and providing information concerning religious activities to younger families and community members. They also transmit their traditions and culture to the younger generations. Though developing Asian countries have been experiencing rapid social, cultural, and economic changes, the conditions of the elderly have not improved and have changed in a satisfactory manner. As far as the elderly women are concerned, they are in a worse situation. They are identified as subordinates to men throughout their lives, and when they are ultimately left alone when get old, they are deeply poor and destitute. In developed countries, retirement is expected to be the period to enjoy personal and leisure activities. In developing Asian countries, the elderly are still preoccupied with their basic livelihood. As social welfare and health insurance in many developing Asian countries have limited resources, individual financial resources play a significant role in enhancing and improving one’s quality of life [22]. Under such a scenario, the elderly in developing Asia remain financially dependent on others. To illustrate it more thoroughly, they psychologically and physically depend more on others than the state or the relevant agencies. Very few Asian countries have infrastructures enough to help the unable and elderly people with Alzheimer's disorders. One of the countries well-functioning in the course is known as Singapore, wherein the strong financial resources have helped the aging population and thereby enhanced their quality of life in different ways [23]. Modernization in many parts of Asia has greatly influenced the lives of the elderly due to increasing changes in the family structure and ties, more mobility among families, more employment by women, etc. All these have caused the families to be more segmented, and consequently, they do not have enough time to invest in elderly people. Also, with the increasing decline in fertility and mortality rates, population aging is appearing more than ever before: generating significant demands for long-term care. Hence, demographic trends are dramatically changing the face of many Asian nations or will soon do so. One way of measuring the speed of these shifts is through a measure of “population aging”. Although the phenomenon is very recent in Asia, it is rapidly spreading in many parts of the continent.
However, as explored, the majority of the elderly still wish to live with their adult children. There is clear evidence showing the familial and family-feeling among the elderly in most parts of Asia. Modernization is seen as a paradoxical phenomenon in Asia since it erodes the traditional support system [24]. However, today, elderly people have come into the agenda of many Asian countries, as has happened in the West previously. Similarly, Asia too needs to develop enough literature on the topic. It is becoming the region where the majority of the elderly people are concentrated. That is to say, the majority (52%) of the world’s senior citizens (people 60 and over) live in Asia; four in every fifteen are concentrated in Eastern Asia, including China, and one in six inhabit South-central Asia, including India [25]. Similarly, about one in fifteen live in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, and Western Asia includes the rest. Such development is largely due to economic success in the region and a result of population control success since the early 1980s. Increased life expectancy also resulted in or is a consequence of improved health care and living standards. This has led to increasing old age in all societies, but more so in the Western world. However, until around the 1970s, many countries, especially in Southeast Asia, were still considered to have young populations; since the 1980s, the older age categories have increased, making it necessary to examine the conditions of these growing elderly people with special reference to their food habits. It is noted that since the 1950s, the life expectancy of men has increased by 20 years or more in Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand and by 15 years in Japan. While the number of women has even increased more dramatically [26], these developments have eventually resulted in an accelerated increase in the proportion of elderly people in almost all parts of Asia, but with some fluctuations. The conditions of elderly people are not the same all over Asia. For example, in Southeast Asia, the proportion of those aged 60 and over is not yet as high as in Japan. There is a growing concern in this regard since the necessary institutional arrangements for taking care of them outside the family are not yet in place. Therefore, much has to be done to bring it in order and adequacy.
European outlook
The establishment of individual and universal mandatory pension rights has come to be known as an efficient way to eradicate poverty in old age among both women and men. Health promotion and the well-being of these people in Europe are among the issues that have been of priority and are well attended to in Europe as compared with Asia in the course of the twentieth century [27]. Sociologically speaking, the discipline of sociology came into being to explore and solve, inter alia, the emerging challenges and the social issues of elderly people and thereby enhance their quality of life. A major task of sociology is to analyze social problems; gradually, social welfare was first enhanced in Europe, leading to a social order that included the elderly welfare.
“Modernization”, which first occurred in Europe, was a multidimensional concept. It was divided into four distinct elements:
- economic modernization (industrialization),
- political modernization (democratization),
- societal modernization (realization of freedom and equality), and
- cultural modernization (the move towards rationalism). All four dimensions affect the elderly's lives in some way or another. The modernization process still advances and is changing the lives of the elderly in almost all European countries, namely, changing their quality of life [28]. Progress in general quality of life has contributed to the major “social risks” such as illness, accidents, and impecunious old age being protected in Europe on a larger scale than in Asia.
At the same time, while poverty among the elderly in Europe is lower than in Asia, social exclusion is emerging on the continent as a new concept. Poverty and social exclusion are central issues of social policy, and so far as the elderly are concerned, they have been well addressed in Europe (Table 1).
Table 1. The percentage of the 65+ year old population of Europe and Asia in selected countries in three periods [23]
Since new forms of administration occurred in Europe much earlier than Asia due to the emergence of industrialization, elderly issues, and the methods to eliminate them started earlier in that continent, especially in the Western part as compared with Asia, and that is why the quality of life there, started to be enhanced earlier too.
Some of the quality–of–life indicators, as found [21], could be outlined as follows:
- Life expectancy,
- Availability of health care services,
- Availability of adequate food,
- Affordability of health care,
- Quality of health care,
- Quality of health control,
- Quality of housing,
- Affordability of housing,
Comparative sociological research indicates that there are meaningful differences between the above indicators in Asia and Europe regarding the elderly. The main causes of the differences between the two stem from lack of resources, lack of capital, underdevelopment of administration, etc.
Aging vs. family budget
Improvement of food products is highly related to industries and industrial development. Therefore, the linkage between industry and food is of prime importance. The food problem is also associated with cultural change, the adoption of new patterns of life, new lifestyles, etc. Food futurology and projection are also a phenomenon that must always be taken seriously in the present changing world. One of the factors impacting the food industry stems from climate change and the shortage of water resources in countries like Iran. Therefore, new paradigms and strategies are required to be adopted [29]. Similarly, the unreliable exploitation of limited water resources is inevitable [30]. Despite the limited resources of water and food, food waste is unprecedented; in many cases, between 30 and 50 percent of food materials are wasted [31]. This paper also explores how aging is advancing in the Developing World, simultaneously with the increasing needs of aging families, i.e., an unprecedented phenomenon. Population aging, which has mainly three main causes: migration, longer life expectancy, and decreased birth rate, is confronting many unplanned and unpredicted issues, such as Alzheimer's disorders and health and wellness challenges. This relationship requires revised budgeting to cope with the soaring needs of elderly people in developing countries. Older people have different requirements from society and government than young people and frequently differing values. The future of aging families to 2030 requires an improved budgeting system. That is, a shift in the aging system requires improved allocation of resources so far as the rising needs, including food habits of the elderly people, are concerned. The paper defends the principle that better support for family caregivers is critical since their availability often provides a better quality of life. However, an improved budgeting system would protect the aging people from all forms of abuse and neglect. Extra funding will support services to such vulnerable people regardless of their caste, class, or creed. To conduct this research, 500 older men and women were interviewed to determine their satisfaction with their current rising needs. Factors responsible for the scenario include the amount of income, quality of care provided to them, and their satisfaction with the policies used in favor of the aging people. Similarly, their satisfaction with the services provided to them against their rising needs was investigated. The way the needs of the elderly people are met vis-à-vis their running budget is also problematic for those people. One key question for the elderly is to find out how they are interested in residing in nursing homes against their budget. It was also found that aging people highly depend on subsidies to cope with their needs. While rising prices were in process, the elderly people were asked how they could secure/meet their rising needs. As health insurance is not yet fully covered in developing countries, the aging interviewees also inquired about this question. Other items such as Alzheimer's disorders, food/calorie needs, transportation needs, social needs, housing needs, emotional needs, and need for respect within the aging families were also investigated. Finally, the quality of securing the general needs of the elderly was also researched in order to scale and compare it with their family budget in a sociological context.
Conclusion
As a result of the development of technologies, industrialization, communications, and education, aging is widely increasing in developing countries, especially among the well-off and those with a higher quality of life. While one side is improving, and the number of those (65+) is increasing, many of such people are facing Dementia and Alzheimer's disorders. Under such circumstances, many developing countries do not have the means to fight Alzheimer's disorders. Developing countries generally lack geriatrics and medicines to deal with the increasing number of aging people. Such impaired people have to stay with their families and be resistant to emerging disorders. The article reflects how women are in a worse situation during their aging life, especially when their husbands have passed away. Such lonely people have to put up with their deteriorating health conditions. People with Alzheimer's disease usually depend on their children to be given care. Shortage of nursing homes in developing countries deteriorates the conditions of people with Alzheimer's disorders in developing countries. Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging in 2000 put the matter on the agenda and widely appraised it. Moreover, developing countries are badly short of rehabilitation centers for their aging people with Alzheimer's disorders.
Acknowledgments: None declared by the authors.
Ethical Permission: There was no ethical consideration in this article.
Conflicts of Interests: None declared by the authors.
Funding/Support: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Table 1. The percentage of the 65+ year old population of Europe and Asia in selected countries in three periods [23]
Since new forms of administration occurred in Europe much earlier than Asia due to the emergence of industrialization, elderly issues, and the methods to eliminate them started earlier in that continent, especially in the Western part as compared with Asia, and that is why the quality of life there, started to be enhanced earlier too.
Some of the quality–of–life indicators, as found [21], could be outlined as follows:
- Life expectancy,
- Availability of health care services,
- Availability of adequate food,
- Affordability of health care,
- Quality of health care,
- Quality of health control,
- Quality of housing,
- Affordability of housing,
Comparative sociological research indicates that there are meaningful differences between the above indicators in Asia and Europe regarding the elderly. The main causes of the differences between the two stem from lack of resources, lack of capital, underdevelopment of administration, etc.
Aging vs. family budget
Improvement of food products is highly related to industries and industrial development. Therefore, the linkage between industry and food is of prime importance. The food problem is also associated with cultural change, the adoption of new patterns of life, new lifestyles, etc. Food futurology and projection are also a phenomenon that must always be taken seriously in the present changing world. One of the factors impacting the food industry stems from climate change and the shortage of water resources in countries like Iran. Therefore, new paradigms and strategies are required to be adopted [29]. Similarly, the unreliable exploitation of limited water resources is inevitable [30]. Despite the limited resources of water and food, food waste is unprecedented; in many cases, between 30 and 50 percent of food materials are wasted [31]. This paper also explores how aging is advancing in the Developing World, simultaneously with the increasing needs of aging families, i.e., an unprecedented phenomenon. Population aging, which has mainly three main causes: migration, longer life expectancy, and decreased birth rate, is confronting many unplanned and unpredicted issues, such as Alzheimer's disorders and health and wellness challenges. This relationship requires revised budgeting to cope with the soaring needs of elderly people in developing countries. Older people have different requirements from society and government than young people and frequently differing values. The future of aging families to 2030 requires an improved budgeting system. That is, a shift in the aging system requires improved allocation of resources so far as the rising needs, including food habits of the elderly people, are concerned. The paper defends the principle that better support for family caregivers is critical since their availability often provides a better quality of life. However, an improved budgeting system would protect the aging people from all forms of abuse and neglect. Extra funding will support services to such vulnerable people regardless of their caste, class, or creed. To conduct this research, 500 older men and women were interviewed to determine their satisfaction with their current rising needs. Factors responsible for the scenario include the amount of income, quality of care provided to them, and their satisfaction with the policies used in favor of the aging people. Similarly, their satisfaction with the services provided to them against their rising needs was investigated. The way the needs of the elderly people are met vis-à-vis their running budget is also problematic for those people. One key question for the elderly is to find out how they are interested in residing in nursing homes against their budget. It was also found that aging people highly depend on subsidies to cope with their needs. While rising prices were in process, the elderly people were asked how they could secure/meet their rising needs. As health insurance is not yet fully covered in developing countries, the aging interviewees also inquired about this question. Other items such as Alzheimer's disorders, food/calorie needs, transportation needs, social needs, housing needs, emotional needs, and need for respect within the aging families were also investigated. Finally, the quality of securing the general needs of the elderly was also researched in order to scale and compare it with their family budget in a sociological context.
Conclusion
As a result of the development of technologies, industrialization, communications, and education, aging is widely increasing in developing countries, especially among the well-off and those with a higher quality of life. While one side is improving, and the number of those (65+) is increasing, many of such people are facing Dementia and Alzheimer's disorders. Under such circumstances, many developing countries do not have the means to fight Alzheimer's disorders. Developing countries generally lack geriatrics and medicines to deal with the increasing number of aging people. Such impaired people have to stay with their families and be resistant to emerging disorders. The article reflects how women are in a worse situation during their aging life, especially when their husbands have passed away. Such lonely people have to put up with their deteriorating health conditions. People with Alzheimer's disease usually depend on their children to be given care. Shortage of nursing homes in developing countries deteriorates the conditions of people with Alzheimer's disorders in developing countries. Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging in 2000 put the matter on the agenda and widely appraised it. Moreover, developing countries are badly short of rehabilitation centers for their aging people with Alzheimer's disorders.
Acknowledgments: None declared by the authors.
Ethical Permission: There was no ethical consideration in this article.
Conflicts of Interests: None declared by the authors.
Funding/Support: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
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