With the advance of medical techniques, some illnesses which were once thought to come with the territory of old age are now no longer viewed as "killers" of the elderly. For example, 10-15 % of persons over the age of 65 and nearly everyone over the age of 85 is afflicted with some form of senile dementia.
一些過去被認為伴隨高齡而來的疾病，因為醫療的進步，近年即不再被視為老人殺手，例如老年癡呆症在六十五歲以上的人口中、有百分之十到十五得有此病；八十五歲以上的患者則幾達半數。