[Aging and disability. Attempt at determining current status]

Disability must not occur inevitably during ageing though interrelations with age dependent physiological involutive processes and/or psychological factors may exist. But it is possible to prevent genesis or progression of disabilities to a remarkable range by suitable therapy as activating care or rehabilitation. Necessary basic decrees for this exist but are used too scarcely. At time epidemiology only gives insufficient informations concerning both the situation of ageing people with disabilities and of the further development of disability with age. Therefore this contribution mainly is confined to point out deficits resp. trends and to request urgently reactions for starting necessary changes.