Editorial: Physical exercise for age-related neuromusculoskeletal disorders

Age-related neurological and musculoskeletal disorders with increasing life expectancy are emerging as major public health problems. Neurological disorders occur when neurons in the brain and spinal cord begin to degenerate such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal stenosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In addition, both motor and sensory peripheral nervous pathologies could negatively affect physical activity in the aging population. Meanwhile, musculoskeletal disorders are pathological conditions that affect muscle, bone, cartilage, joint, and connective tissue, thereby leading to physical and functional impairments in patients, including but not limited to, osteoarthritis (OA), intervertebral disc degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and ankylosing spondylitis. Frailty syndrome, gait abnormality, and balance deficit that are commonly seen in older adults could be combined effects of neural and orthopedic dysfunction. Moreover, neuromusculoskeletal disorders have high rates of prevalence among the aging population and became the primary reason to seek interventions.