CEREBRAL PALSY
Decline in energy and activity levels. Some bladder difficulty and spinal stenosis reported. More bone fractures per year compared to non-disabled.
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
Aging process is affected by the nature and severity of the impairment, secondary conditions , medical issues, and medication usage.
DOWN SYNDROME
· Increased chance of hypothyroidism, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis.
· Shorter life expectancy of 55 years old, but many live into 70s.
· Most adults over age 40 have some neuropathological changes characteristic of Alzheimer’s Disease, but only some develop dementia.
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
Outlive parents and can’t rely on adult siblings. Must plan for the future.
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
· There has been little research on this topic. Doesn’t reduce life expectancy. Limited ADLs and IADLs.
· Common issues: urinary tract infections,
pneumonia, and septicemia.
· Loss of mobility (fatigue, falls), dependency on caregiver/family, or possibility of moving into nursing home; most require multiple mobility devices. Rehabilitation therapy has shown to help functioning.
· Controversial study found that MS
doesn’t get worse with age and seems to disappear in the 70s, but MS remains unpredictable and attacks can occur in this age group.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
Effects of aging vary greatly. Memory
impairment, slower learning of new material, gait and balance problems, ataxia, decreased sensory acuity, diminished executive functions, reductions in appetite and libido.
POST-POLIO SYNDROME (PPS)
· Develops several decades after a person has had polio. Affects the muscles and nerves, causing weakness, fatigue, pain, and other symptoms. Start to experience onset of new symptoms and functional limitations, which threaten to further erode health and independence and an increase need for services.
· Mean age of 63-Age of person at acute onset and historical period are significantly related to the severity of the initial impairment as well as the physical and psychosocial wellbeing. Contracted at a younger age and earlier in the century were less impaired. Measured by the number of limbs affected vs. contracted later during the peak of the epidemic and at an earlier age. Timing and initial severity have a big impact.
· Excessive fatigue, slowly progressive muscle weakness with or without decrease in muscle bulk, muscle pain or twitching where effected by original disease. Joint pain and respiratory problems reported.
· Severity and experience polio after 1940 at older ages most at risk for depressive symptoms and low scores on acceptance of disability.
SPINAL CORD INJURY
· Effects begin around age 40 with SCI for 20 years. Effects of aging depend on nature and duration of injury—quad early 40s, lower injuries early 50s.
· More pain, fatigue, effort to do activities, weakness, unable to do things previously done independently.
· Diabetes at 4x the rate of nondisabled persons.
· Changes ranging from decline in health and physiologic functioning to sociologic changes, ie, increasing financial stresses, changing relationships, perception of self and roles, and spiritual growth.
