A member of the Pro-Health Organization, Dr. Maureen Muoneke is a medical consultant at the Georgia Division of Aging Services. Dr. Maureen Muoneke works at the vocational rehabilitation agency of the organization to help determine people who are eligible for disability.

The process of becoming older, aging is natural, and it is associated with dynamic changes in the environmental, physiological, behavioral, psychological, and social processes. Aging is one of the major risk factors of many chronic diseases that can result in gradual physical impairment and functional disabilities.

Every year, age is associated with a 1 to 2 percent decline in the functional ability of an adult due to gradual physiological changes that affect various body systems. Osteomalacia or the reduction in bone mass and weakening of bones is attributed to aging. Old age also causes a reduction in blood volume and the ability to control blood pressure that can make a person more susceptible to tachycardia.

Aging can also result in impaired nerve function due to its effect on some cortical brain areas, as well as sensory and peripheral nerves. Increased susceptibility to dehydration and reduced kidney functions are also attributed to aging.