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In Australia we have become preoccupied with the potential adverse impact of our ageing population on our health and social systems. The projected cost of having increasing proportions of our population in the over 70s, retired, chronically ill category of the demographic profile is emerging as a major challenge for governments and private insurers: so much so in fact that the government is now urging older people to stay at work longer. In America, new approaches to the management and self-management of chronic diseases have been invoked to encourage and support older people to improve their quality of life and reduce their recourse to and dependence upon health care technologies, clinical interventions and health care management systems. Unless this is achieved, it is argued, the cost of looking after this emerging ‘bubble’ of elderly people will become increasingly unsustainable as fewer and fewer (proportionately) younger people work to pay the taxes that support ageing, retired, sick and dependent populations. This paper argues that we are at real risk of having our economic wealth and productivity impeded and truncated by the financial burden of looking after high demand and high cost dependants at the aged end of the social demographic. This paper offers an alternative view of our ageing population, as well as highlighting some of the assets we have in our elderly populations, and providing suggestions as to an alternative view of the phenomenon of ageing that incorporates elements such as flexible working arrangements and the application of new, enabling technologies. This approach to our ageing population dilemma is predicated on a concept of lifelong learning and social participation along with better preventive and early intervention systems of health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through interviews with users and providers of anti-ageing medicine in Australia as well as the analysis of various internet sites, anti-ageing clinics, journals and magazines dealing with anti-ageing medicine, this paper will argue that the anti-ageing industry in Australia is an example of how ‘mediascapes’ operate, seeking in this case to replicate the American model while developing a more localized practice meeting local needs, cultural orientations and regulatory frameworks. The products being studied here include some which have been on the market for many years in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) industry, but have only recently been rebranded as ‘anti-ageing’. These include vitamins, anti-oxidants, supplements such as beta-carotene, selenium and coenzyme Q10, homeopathic products, exercise and diet programs. Other products that have been recently labelled as ‘anti-ageing’ and are included in this study are hormone therapies, testosterone, melatonin, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), and Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). These products have been previously trialled and used in the treatment of medical problems such as heart disease, sexual dysfunction, cognitive and memory loss problems, and hormonal deficiency. Current medical research on stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, has also fallen within the realm of anti-ageing treatments developed from this research area and available primarily in countries with limited regulation and control over the use and availability of embryonic stem cells in the context of the private anti-ageing clinic. The differences and similarities between the practice of anti-ageing medicine in Australia and in America highlight current tensions and correspondences in the manner in which ageing is being constructed, managed and experienced. They are indicative of the impact that social policy directions, regulatory frameworks and economic policies have on the way in which ageing individuals and society at large approach the experience of old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]