Geriatric Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) Market

Geriatric Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) Market: Overview

Geriatric population is more susceptible to chronic diseases such as heart problems, joint disorders and others. Therefore, this population group needs regular use of the medicines to prevent the disease conditions. The use of complementary and alternative medicines is increasing among the geriatric population globally due to the fact that CAMs decreases the risk of adverse reactions and drug interactions. 

Complementary and alternative medicines include products such as dietary medicine and herbal medicine products. These medicines can be used for the management of both communicable (i.e. tuberculosis, hantavirus and others) and non communicable diseases (i.e. chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular and others) in geriatric population. These medicines (i.e. CAM) treat the patients by healing therapies which is not based on principles of conventional medicine.

Geriatric Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) Market: Growth Enablers

Consistent rise in geriatric population is expected to stimulate the market growth of geriatric complementary and alternative medicines. For example, according to a report published by World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people aged 65 years or older is expected to increase from 605 million in 2012 to 2 billion by 2050.

In addition, the use of complementary and alternative medicine is rapidly increasing among the geriatric population which would act as the potential driver for the market growth. For example, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and American Association of Retired People (AARP) conducted one survey which stated that the use of CAM is increasing globally among the population aged 50 years and above. The report published by the Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research also suggests that geriatric population widely uses complementary and alternative medicines compared to general population. The survey revealed that around 80% of the geriatric population globally is using at least one complementary and alternative medicine. Additionally, increasing number of clinical studies to investigate the effectiveness and mechanism of action (MOA) of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) drives the growth of the market. Moreover, factors such as low cost, effective therapy and others further stimulates the uptake of complementary and alternative medicines market in near future. However, lack of awareness for complementary and alternative medicines therapies among geriatric population restrains the market growth.

Geriatric Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) Market: Regional Dynamics

Geographically, North America is considered as the largest market of geriatric complementary and alternative medicines owing to high use of CAMs in this region. For example, Health and Retirement Study conducted one survey which concluded that around 85% of the geriatric population in North America reported the use of complementary and alternative medicines. Thus, high use of CAM modalities will establish healthy platform to develop the growth of geriatric complementary and alternative medicines market.

Europe is the second largest market of geriatric complementary and alternative medicines. The growth is mainly attributed to the increasing aging population coupled with rising use of complementary and alternative medicines in Europe. According to European Commission (Eurostat) report published in 2013, around 17.8% of the European population were aged 65 years and above. The organization has also stated that aging population is expected to increase at high rate in coming year in Europe. In addition, Asia-Pacific is the emerging market for geriatric complementary and alternative medicines market because of rising interest of key companies to expand their presence in Asia Pacific.

 Key companies operating in the market for geriatric complementary and alternative medicines include Geriatric & Medical Companies, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation. Geri-Care pharmaceuticals, UAS Laboratories.