TY - JOUR T1 - Do no harm JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 724 LP - 725 DO - 10.1136/emermed-2022-212647 VL - 39 IS - 10 AU - Mary Dawood AU - Rosa McNamara Y1 - 2022/10/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/39/10/724.abstract N2 - ’Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the voices of life. Even if their counsel is displeasing to you, pay heed to them.’ —Khalil GibranMedical advances, public health improvements and in some places greater affluence have led to increased longevity in recent years. This is evident globally both in wealthier health economies as well as developing and lower-income countries and is characterised by growing numbers of older adults. In 2019, the number of people aged 60 years and older was 1 billion. This number will increase to 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. Furthermore, the number of adults aged over 80 years is expected to quadruple to 395 million during the same period.1 This increase is occurring at an unprecedented pace and will accelerate in coming decades, particularly in developing countries.2 People who are fortunate to experience good health in later years are an invaluable resource, their wisdom and ability to fully participate in family and community life enriches society as a whole; however, good health in older age is far from guaranteed and the increase in life expectancy is often accompanied by the development of chronic disease, age-related illness and frailty. Indeed, there is little evidence that longevity has contributed to better health today than in previous years.1 Age-related conditions are … ER -