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Wheelchairs, Power Wheelchairs, Exoskeletons and Enabling the Disabled
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About 10% of the global population, i.e. about 710 million people, have disabilities according to a World Health report. Studies indicate that, of these, some 10% require a wheelchair. It is thus estimated that about 1% of a total population – or 10% of a disabled population – need wheelchairs, i.e. about 71 million people worldwide. In 2003, it was estimated that 20 million of those requiring a wheelchair for mobility did not have one.
About 7% of persons older than 65 years are frail, and that the occurrence of frailty increases with age and may exceed 45% after age 85. By 2050, one in six people will be over the age of 65. This will be about 1.5 billion people. If 7% of them were frail that would be 105 million people. There are other causes of disability (a chart below goes over some of the causes and an older frequency of occurence).
Even if radical life extension and rejuvenation is not developed we will have to aggressively treat frailty, muscle wasting and Sarcopenia (half to 1% muscle loss for each year after age 25. Sarcopenia is to aging muscles like Osteoporosis is to aging bones.
Osteoporosis is an age-related disease of bone that leads to an increased risk of fracture.
The frailty syndrome is a collection of symptoms or markers, primarily due to the aging-related loss and dysfunction of skeletal muscle and bone, that place (mostly) older adults at increased risk of adverse events such as death, disability, and institutionalization.
There is a lot of work with myostatin inhibitors and SARM steroids to increase muscle mass and strength in the elderly.
See more and subscribe to NextBigFuture at 2012-12-13 20:23:03 Source: http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/12/wheelchairs-power-wheelchairs.html
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