Question

I have cerebral palsy, and was told, when I was diagnosed at 44, that skeletally and muscularly speaking, the inside of my body was that of a person of 65 years of age. How can I prepare myself for early aging.

Answer

The same basic considerations apply for someone who has aged relatively early and later. It is the timing that is different. Ageing does not occur at a set biological age, although one can obviously say that people over the age of 80 are old whereas those under 40 are not. Thus most people between the age of 40 and 80 become old. There are exceptions to this rule, and there are some congenital conditions where ageing may occur in the teenage years. Scientists are at great pains to point out the difference between chronological age and biological age.

For example, ageing is likely to start earlier in somebody with cerebral palsy than in somebody of the same age without the condition.

There is a difference between so-called normal ageing and age related disease. One cannot say someone is more aged because they are disabled or have an age-related condition, because these are pathological states and not ageing.

However, disability, like older age and also age-related conditions, not only affects physical and mental function but may also have social and financial consequences.

The term cerebral palsy of course encompasses a whole gamut of different conditions which affect people in different ways. Treatment is obviously designed to minimise associated handicaps and complications of the conditions and to maintain independence as far as possible.

In many people with cerebral palsy, orthopaedic surgery can help by correcting deformity, improving function and decreasing pain. Drug therapy is available for spasticity and of course for pain and depression. There is also an important role for the occupational therapist in designing, for instance, the right wheelchair, as well as special equipment, to allow someone who is severely handicapped to control their own environment and remain as independent as possible.