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Jean-Pierre Michel, MD; Julia L. Newton, MD; Thomas B. L. Kirkwood, PhD

JAMA. 2008;299(6):688-690.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

When geriatricians and gerontologist researchers consider the health challenges that will affect the global population in coming decades, their reactions most often combine alarm with a determination for action.¹ Based on current demographic forecasts and the age-incidence patterns of major age-related diseases,² the prospects for greatly increased prevalence of age-related frailty and disability can even induce despair. However, in addition to the continuing trend toward increased life expectancy, emerging indications, informed by recent scientific advances, suggest that some of the more daunting challenges might be met by a preventive life-course perspective that extends from conception through extreme old age.

The 6.5 billion inhabitants of the world currently include a "bulge" generation, which, although presently of working age, will in 3 to 4 decades become old.² By 2050, the world's population is expected to be 9.1 billion, and the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Frailty Conditions and Age-Related Disability

Author Affiliations: Department of Geriatrics and Rehabilitation, University of Geneva, Thônex-Geneva, Switzerland (Dr Michel); Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England (Drs Newton and Kirkwood).