Diabetes the king and queen of diseases of older people

What drugs are being developed for older Americans - and hence older Europeans?

This paper gives you a good feel for those drugs in various stages of development.

These are the medicines and vaccines in human clinical trials or under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The medicines in development include:

• 142 for diabetes (affects 10.9 million Americans age 65 and older).

• 92 for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis (affects 12.4 million
people, age 65 and older).

• 82 for Alzheimer’s disease (could afflict nearly 8 million people by 2030 unless a cure or prevention is found).

• 48 for heart failure and ischemic heart disease, two of many cardiovascular diseases affecting 80.7 million Americans, half of which are age 60 and older.

• 40 for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (affects Americans over age 65 at a higher rate).

• 34 for depression (affects an estimated 6.5 million Americans age 65 and older).

• 20 for chronic kidney disease, where prevalence grows with older age.

• 15 for osteoporosis, a major health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans.

You can see where the drug companies are putting their money. Diabetes. Dick Stroud