| Even if sixty is "the new forty" and baby boomers | | | | medical equipment needs extend to blood pressure |
| are staying healthier and more active until later in | | | | and blood sugar monitors, stethoscopes, and meds |
| their lives, their age does catch up with them | | | | managers. Older people with heart problems typically |
| sometimes. Meanwhile, their parents are living longer | | | | measure their blood pressure at least once a day, |
| and staying more active, too; but old joints wear out | | | | and often their medication requirements vary |
| and old bodies need repair. An aging population has | | | | according to blood pressure readings. Similarly, |
| generated unprecedented demand for medical | | | | diabetes patients must constantly monitor their blood |
| equipment, especially equipment specially adapted for | | | | sugar, making certain it does not soar too high or dip |
| home care. | | | | dangerously low. For patients who require medications |
| Women still outlive men by a considerable margin, but | | | | by injection, syringes and needles top the list of |
| more than half of all women over seventy suffer the | | | | essential medical equipment; and they cost less when |
| complications of osteoporosis. Most of them will | | | | patients buy in bulk. Perhaps most importantly, the |
| require bone and joint replacements, and they | | | | average person over fifty takes at least five |
| subsequently will require rehabilitation. Older women | | | | medications more than once a day. Therefore, pill |
| also will need to outfit their homes with proper | | | | cutters, pill crushers, and pill boxes rise to the top of |
| medical equipment for their safety and convenience. | | | | everybody's list for most wanted and most needed |
| From devices as simple as walkers and four-footed | | | | medical equipment. |
| canes to equipment for a full bathroom remodelling | | | | Physical therapists and exercise physiologists |
| project, women in recovery from bone and joint | | | | frequently counsel seniors and baby boomers to |
| surgery require sophisticated medical equipment | | | | maintain their strength and flexibility with specialized |
| specially adapted to their needs. | | | | exercise equipment available through medical |
| Naturally, seniors do not want to leave their homes. | | | | equipment distributors. Specially designed exercise |
| They do not want to sacrifice familiar surroundings, | | | | chairs facilitate seniors and baby boomers' strength |
| comforting memories, and lifelong attachments for | | | | training, and a variety of flexible-expandable bands |
| the strangeness of assisted living or round-the-clock | | | | and tubes help older people maintain both strength |
| care. The more they can outfit their homes with the | | | | and good circulation in their arms and legs. Specially |
| medical equipment they need, the longer they can | | | | adapted dumbbells and hand weights also contribute |
| stay safe and well in their homes. If mobility poses | | | | to older patients' upper body strength. |
| problems, seniors need ramps and lifts to navigate | | | | Consider supply and distribution of such equipment |
| their homes' ups and downs. If breathing poses | | | | among the industrialized world's greatest growth |
| problems, they need safe, efficient oxygen | | | | industries, and imagine that the same technology |
| machines-both small portable units they can take with | | | | which inspired the pocket-sized ultra-sound machine |
| them as they go about their daily business, and larger | | | | will influence the entire array of medical equipment |
| units for resting and sleeping. | | | | for home use. For aging baby boomers, home |
| A home well equipped for care also needs monitors, | | | | healthcare grows more manageable all the time. |
| meters, and measures. Seniors and baby boomers' | | | | |