Wellness Market Opportunities in the Aging American Population: Alternative Medicine Markets for Age-Related Health Issues

With an aging population in the United States, the incidence of prevalence of age-related diseases and disorders is expected to mount rapidly over the next decade. Since senior citizens already consume a disproportionate amount of healthcare dollars, the economic picture will only go from bad to worse insofar as healthcare is concerned. The solution to this problem, for this generation and the future, is prevention.

The new emphasis on prevention opens up a scope of opportunity in the alternative care realm, especially with regard to dietary supplements and nutriceuticals. The United States market for nutrition products is well over $60 billion annually - one-third of this being accounted for by the sale of supplements. The combination of supplement and functional food sales accounts for two-thirds of this market. What is important is that companies that, with few exceptions, are little more than “mom and pop” operations achieve these sales without clear clinical support for these products.

This presents a huge opportunity for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies willing to undertake the effort to educate the medical community and the consumer with regard to the preventive effects of supplement products on age-related disease and disorders with significantly less investment than would be required for ethical pharmaceuticals. Moreover, with the reputation, status, and resources of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries addressing the prevention needs of an aging population, it is clear that the market for nutritional products could grow and at accelerated rate for the next ten to twenty years.

Scope

This report focuses on the growth in incidence and prevalence of age-related disorders in the American population, the use of alternative approaches (notably nutritional supplements) in their prevention and treatment, the options that they present, the progress that is being made in these fields and the motivations for broader pharmaceutical industry involvement in these markets. The major market effects of nutritional supplements and other alternative medical practices have the potential to significantly impact the United States healthcare markets over the next ten years, especially in applications in age-related health priorities (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc.).

This report covers current alternative medical approaches in a broad sense. It focuses on product-oriented markets, and does not go into the details of exercise, diet, meditation, yoga, and the various devices that are marketed with claims of healthful benefits. This report does discuss, however, the general aspects and impacts of diet and exercise on age-related disease/disorder development and provides a more detailed view of the role of nutritional supplements in the prevention and management of age-related diseases/disorders.

Market analysis for this report considers the various applications of nutritional supplements in the United States and details high-, mid-, and low-range forcasts for natural personal care products, natural/organic foods, functional foods, and nutritional supplements. The focus of the report, however, is on nutritional supplement products with the potential to provide major market opportunities for pharmaceutical companies wishing to enter the field. The supplement market is segmented by six segments: Vitamins, Herbs, Meal Supplements, Specialty Products, Sports Nutritionals, and Minerals.

Methodology

The analysis presented in this report is based on data from a combination of company, government, industry, and institutional and private sources. It includes information from extensive literature reviews, as well as interviews and discussions with experts in the field, including nutritionists, internists, geriatricians, research scientists, business development managers and marketing managers.