The Ageing Australian Population and Health - Report Example

Name: Professor`s name: Course number: Date: Diabetes Diabetes Mellitus (DM), simply referred to as diabetes is in the group of the so-called metabolic diseases. This disease has been observed to occur when there is a prolonged period of time in which the blood sugar levels are high. The most frequent symptoms of high blood sugar levels are the regular urination, increased hunger and thirst. Diabetes mellitus is a hereditary disease that can also be caused by improper functioning of the pancreas organ of the body or the way in which body cells respond to the already produced insulin. Pancreas is a human body organ that is tasked with the production and release of the insulin. Thus improper functioning of the pancreas usually affect a person`s body ability to take the glucose from the bloodstream for the ultimate use in the production of the energy that is utilized in the body. Energy is essential in every living organism. Malfunctioning of the pancreas leads to insufficient insulin levels in the body of a particular human being. This state results into two major conditions. Hypoglycemia is a condition that results when there is insufficient sugar in the blood while the other condition, hyperglycaemia, results when there is excess sugar in the bloodstream of a normal human being. There several types of diabetes which are; (a) Insulin dependent diabetes (IDDM) - This is the Type 1 which is an auto-immune type of disease. It is a hereditary disease that requires regular insulin injection and most importantly is that diet should be monitored so that victims have a balanced and nutritious diet in their daily lives. Regular exercise is also essential to avoid being overweight. (b) Non-insulin dependent type of diabetes (Type 2) - This type of diabetes results from a combo of genetics and several other environmental factors as the case in the native Australians. This case requires medication at the very early stages of detection and secondly a change in the lifestyle. A change in lifestyle involves changes in the diet, reduction in alcohol consumption, regular body exercise to reduce which to prevent the opportunistic diseases such as the high blood pressure. (c) The gestation diabetes. This is the type of diabetes which mostly is experienced in female members of the society. Therefore this type of diabetes only affects pregnant females during the period of pregnancy. It is true and evident now that diabetes has been found to produce high levels of blood sugar that certainly provide opportunity and enhance the thrive of the opportunistic diseases such as the heart diseases , nerve diseases and blindness. Occurrence of such diseases leads to other diseases such as the kidney failure. The extent and trend of diabetes in the Australian continent is alarming. Diabetes is the fastest growing disease as per the current statistics. It is the 8th leading cause of other opportunistic diseases. It is estimated that come the year 2023, the type-2 diabetes will be the leading cause of diseases burden in the Australian continent. Australia is ranked as one of the world`s healthiest nation, regardless of this, Australians still face a range of health problems. Main challenge faced by the Australian government in tackling the diabetes disease issue is the issue of limited resources in the terms of funds and the skilled health personnel. This implies that priorities need to be established. Australian government has used a framework of priority health issues to address the diabetes disease menace. Epidemiology is defined as the study of distribution and the frequency of a disease within a population and the attempt to positively identify the cause(s) of the disease. Epidemiology has been used and found to play an important role in addressing the diabetes disease issue although morbidity and mortality rates have too been used accurately to determine the health priority issues such as that of the diabetes disease. It is certain that groups at risk of being affected by diabetes are the elderly people who have achieved the ages of 65 years and over, the socio-economically disadvantaged people, persons living in rural and remote regions and most importantly indigenous Australians. Diabetes is now ranked the number one cause of morbidity and early mortality in Australia. As at the year 2005, there were 901 new cases of type-1 diabetes in children under the ages of 15 years old. Death rate as a result of diabetes in Australia has increased progressively with age. It was established that majority of those who died as a result of diabetes were all aged 65 and over years. Therefore this is a great concern for both the citizens and the national government. The government ought to put forward enough measures to counter the spread of this ever growing menace. It is the duty of every sound minded citizen and parents to ensure that they live a good quality life so that they can lengthen their lifespan. This can be achieved if they fail to develop the conditions of diabetes. Also the Australian government should educate the citizens on the precise ways of avoiding and addressing the diabetes disease issue before it is too late and implement efficient low cost methods to bring down the numbers of diabetic persons in the society. A Growing and Ageing Population In Australia the ageing population is deemed as the persons who have are at least aged 65 years old and above. This particular group of persons accounts for at least 13% of the total Australian population. It is projected that this population is on rise and will probably grow by 27% come the year 2051 when factors of consideration are kept constant. An interesting factor is that the ageing population is caused by the facts that the Australian families are nowadays having fewer children and that the Australian general population is living longer (extended life expectancy). Fewer babies being born, citizens living longer life span imply that the older population of the society will tremendously grow. Growth of older population is attributed to a more healthy living. Healthy ageing can only be achieved through better quality of life. Better quality life and longer lifespan are achieved through the employment of the Australians, better education dissemination to citizens proper and good housing and lastly good transport network. Good employment will ensure that citizens will afford basic necessities of life such as the food, good quality housing and basic education. Australians should hence adopt a healthy ageing mechanisms since it is the only way to prevent diseases and body organs functions decline that mostly result due to old age. It is evident even to an average member of the society that a healthy person spends less money and time while seeking medical care attentions. By undertaking the measures of healthy living, Australians can live up to 83 years of age or more on the side for females. The expected life span of Australian males is less than that of the females by at least two years. The reduced life span of the males compared to that of the females is caused by the fact that men are generally engaged in more strenuous activities compared to the females and way of lifestyle of the men is different from that of the women. Increased population living with chronic diseases and disability is on the rise in the Australian society. Two major chronic diseases in the older generation of the society are the coronary heart disease and the cerebrovascular disease. Other major chronic diseases are the heart failure, ling cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, pulmonary obstructive disease. The diseases affect both sexes expect for the prostate cancer that affects the male members of the society. Dementia and disorders such as the Alzheimer`s disease still cause many deaths among the growing older generation of the Australian society. The top causes of deaths in the 65-74 years age bracket are the pancreatic cancer, cirrhosis of the liver organ and the ovarian cancer in the women. At the age bracket of 75-84 years, deaths mainly result from body implications caused by dementia and other related disorders. Finally for persons aged 85 years and more, deaths result from influenza and pneumonia as well as kidney failure. Other conditions with large impact on the older Australian population are the Parkinson`s disease in males, Osteoarthritis and falls in females and the adult-onset hearing loss in both genders. The demand for health services and workforce are increasing due to the ageing population in the Australian society. Australian medical workforce has increased in the recent years due to the fact that the older generation has overtaken the younger generation in the terms of population numbers. It is true that demand for the health care services increases as the population of aged persons increase. In Australia, it is acclaimed that persons aged 55 years and more are requiring much and special attention compared to the younger people. This rise in demand for health care services has resulted in the increase in the national health expenditure that is driven higher by the below factors; (a) Rise in the health care prices (b) Growth in population (c) Ageing of the population (d) Non-demographic growth in health care sector Aged persons in the society require special care and regular attention. In Australia, service providers of the aged care range from organization by private entities, charities, religious entities to state, territory and local governments. Community care has been established to help the aged who are at their homes in their daily activities which are extremely hard for them to undertake and perform. In Australia, there exist such two programs, the Home and Community Care (HACC) program and the Community Aged Care packages (CACP). These two programs aim at meeting the basic needs to maintain a person`s independence at home and also in the community. Such basic needs take the forms of personnel care, meals, home modification and maintenance, transport and the so-called community-based respite care. Aged persons who can longer live at home, they are cared at residential aged care homes. Low-level and high-level care homes provide meals, laundry, cleaning and personal care. It is evident that the Australian government has put forward proper measures to tackle the problems that may result from the ageing population in the society. The government should increase the working force in the health sector to ensure efficient service delivery in the sector. References Diabetes. New York: American Diabetes Association, 1952. Print. Disability and Ageing: Australian Population Patterns and Implications. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2000. Print. Riedman, Sarah R. Diabetes. New York: Watts, 1980. Print. Hugo, Graeme, and Deborah Wood. Ageing of the Australian Population: Changing Distribution and Characteristics of the Aged Population. Bedford Park, S. Aust: National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University of South Australia, 1984. Print. Healey, Justin. Ageing. Thirroul, N.S.W: Spinney Press, 2008. Print. Cooper, Clive, and Philip Hagan. The Ageing Australian Population and Future Health Costs: 1996-2051. Canberra: Dept. of Health and Aged Care, 1999. Print. Peacock, Judith. Diabetes. Mankato, MN: LifeMatters, 2000. Print. Young, Christabel. Australia's Ageing Population: Policy Options. Canberra, ACT: Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1990. Print. Kendig, Hal, and John McCallum. Greying Australia: Future Impacts of Population Ageing. Canberra: Australian Government Pub. Service, 1986. Print. Metcalf, Tom, and Gena Metcalf. Diabetes. Detroit: Thomson/Gale, 2008. Print. Read More