Despite Aging Baby Boomers, N.I.H. Devotes Only 11 Percent to Elderly Studies, appears in the June 28, 2010 New York Times. I tend to agree with Dr. Francis Collins, NIH head, who points out that the 11 percent does not take into consideration research conducted on the conditions such as diabetes and heart disease — health problems that will affect many aging boomers.
Looking at this from another perspective, it may be a bit too late to expect that any far-reaching research initiated right now, if it is designed correctly to measure long-term results, can yield beneficial results for the baby boomer generation. While we may benefit from incremental medical improvements, as a group we boomers may have to be content with the notion that our cohort, because of its enormous size, will provide a host of medical research opportunities over the next 30 to 40 years, leading to remarkable medical advances that will benefit our children and grandchildren.
A table listing the funds that NIH spends on biomedical research for 218 medical conditions is available at this link.
As Our Parents Age So Do We 