Abstract
THE POPULATION is aging. In Europe, predictions from the Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT) estimate that from 2010 to 2030 the population of octogenarians in 25 countries of the European Union will increase by 57%.
By 2050, the population of those aged 80 and older will increase by 180%. That would produce an increase of more than 34 million aged people.
According to the conservative projections of the Czech Statistical Office, the population of octogenarians in the Czech Republic will increase from today's 3.2% of the total population to more than 5.5%, a staggering increase of more than 69% in the next 20 years.This will happen within the professional life of a physician, and the implications of this aging population for the clinical practice of anesthesiology, surgery, and critical care medicine are profound.