FEATURE 65 or over. In 2018, for the first time in history, persons aged 65 or above out-numbered children under five years of age globally. The number of persons aged 80 years or over is projected to triple, from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050.(2). According to Sta-tistics Canada, Canadians are living longer and seniors are on track to rep-resent about 25% of the population by mid-century(3). Health care costs will also be a burden on the government, as seniors utilize 4.4 times more compared to the younger population.(4). The aging population has unique characteristics, which are shown below and summarized from the American College of Sports Medicine (5): . Muscle Strength and Power – Iso-metric, concentric and eccentric strength declines after age 40 and accelerates after age 65-70. Lower body strength declines faster than upper body strength. Power declines faster than strength. Muscle Endurance and Fatigability – Endurance declines. The effects of age on mechanisms of fatigue are un-clear and task-dependent. Motor Performance and Control – Reaction time increases. It takes longer to react. Speed of simple and repetitive movements slows. Complex tasks are affected more than simple tasks. Flexibility and Joint ROM – Signif-icant decreases in hip, spine and ankle flexion by age 70. Muscle and tendon elasticity decreases. Cardiac Function – Maximal heart rate, stroke volume and cardiac output decline. Vascular Function – Aorta and its major branches stiffen. Blood Pressure – BP at rest in-creases. BP during submaximal and maximal exercise is higher in old vs young, especially in older women. Ventilation Chest wall stiffens. Ex-piratory muscle strength decreases. Work of breathing increases. Gas Exchange – Reduced surface area for gas exchange in the lungs due to loss of alveoli. Maximal O2 Uptake – Declines about 9% per decade in healthy seden-tary adults. Rate of decline accelerates with advancing age. Ventilatory Threshold – Decreases with age as a percentage of VO2 max. Walking Kinematics – Preferred and maximal walking speeds are slower. www.Cndoctor.ca PATIENT CARE Life and longevity P Serious health issues and an opportunity for chiropractors to lead BY DR. DON RITSON from non communicable or chronic diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes) than from infectious diseases, childhood diseases, and accidents. DR. DON FITZ-RITSON is a chiropractor and a Rehab Specialist. He was an Assistant Professor at CMCC. He published 17 papers and 3 chapters on chiropractic.He co-invented a laser and it received 7 Health Canada Approvals. He is focused on helping the aging population live better lives. 16 Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor June 2020 rh2010 / Adobe Stock eople are living longer and healthier lives, represent-ing one of the crowning achievements of the last century. Living longer also boasts a significant chal-lenge: Longer lives must be planned for. The Global Burden of Disease, a study conducted by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, with partial support from the U.S. National Institute on Aging (1), predicts a very large increase in disabil-ity caused by increases in age-related chronic disease in all regions of the world. In a few decades, the loss of health and life worldwide will be greater TRENDS IN POPULATION AGING Globally, the population aged 65 and over is growing faster than all other age groups. According to data from World Population Prospects: the 2019 Revi-sion, by 2050, one in six people in the world will be over age 65 (16%), up from one in 11 in 2019 (9%). By 2050, one in four persons living in Europe and Northern America could be aged
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