Some theories claim that aging is caused by injuries from ultraviolet light over time, wear and tear on the body, or byproducts of metabolism. Other theories view aging as a predetermined process controlled by genes. No single process can explain all the changes of aging.
The most notable exogenous factors influencing degree of aging were sun exposure and smoking. Other possibly contributory lifestyle factors include alcohol consumption, stress, diet, exercise, disease, and medication.
Such causes of aging include but are not limited to oxidative stress, glycation, telomere shortening, side reactions, mutations, aggregation of proteins, etc. In other words, it is the progressive damage to these structures and functions that we perceive and characterize as aging.
They found people tend to fall into one of four biological aging pathways, or ageotypes: immune, kidney, liver or metabolic. Snyder said that metabolic agers, for example, may be at a higher risk for type 2 diabetes as they grow older.
That's because there are actually two types of aging. Intrinsic aging occurs naturally as we grow older and is largely a product of heredity. Extrinsic aging is based almost entirely on external factors.
With age, bones tend to shrink in size and density, weakening them and making them more susceptible to fracture. You might even become a bit shorter. Muscles generally lose strength, endurance and flexibility — factors that can affect your coordination, stability and balance.
There are two main culprits that accelerate the aging process of our skin: sun exposure and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) .
The three Ds of geriatric psychiatry—delirium, dementia, and depression are common and challenging diagnoses among elderly. Delirium is often difficult to diagnose and is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in older adults.
Rowe and Kahn stated that successful aging involved three main factors: (1) being free of disability or disease, (2) having high cognitive and physical abilities, and (3) interacting with others in meaningful ways.
Several factors are responsible for ageing: age, sleep, dietary habits, nutrition, physical activity, general health condition, emotional well-being, physical impairment, cultural factors, life events, social support, family well-being, financial resources, cognitive functioning, and diseases.
Endocrine theory is the idea that regular changes in hormones control aging. Immunological theory states that the immune system is programmed to decline over time, leaving people more susceptible to diseases.
Some age-related changes are benign, such as graying hair. Others result in declines in function of the senses and activities of daily life and increased susceptibility to and frequency of disease, frailty, or disability. In fact, advancing age is the major risk factor for a number of chronic diseases in humans.
In broader terms, aging can be broken down into three distinct and often related categories: biological aging, psychological aging, and social aging.
Aging can be defined as the time-related deterioration of the physiological functions necessary for survival and fertility. The characteristics of aging—as distinguished from diseases of aging (such as cancer and heart disease)—affect all the individuals of a species.
Kim and Park (12) conducted a meta-analysis of the correlates of successful ageing and they identified that four domains describing successful ageing were; avoiding disease and disability, having high cognitive, mental and physical function, being actively engage in life, and being psychologically well adapted in later ...
Exposure to light is a top cause of premature aging: Sun exposure causes many skin problems. Ultraviolet (UV) light and exposure to sunlight age your skin more quickly than it would age naturally. The result is called photoaging, and it's responsible for 90% of visible changes to your skin.
As we age, muscles and bones begin to weaken, we lose eyesight and hearing, and mobility often becomes limited. Seniors also suffer from dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, which affects about 10 percent of people over age 65, increasing to 32 percent of people 85 and older.
The greatest challenge facing us as we age is the prevention of physical disability and the extension of "active life expectancy." Fortunately, recent studies suggest that healthy ("successful") aging is achievable, with sound planning for old age.
Societal aging can affect economic growth, patterns of work and retirement, the way that families function, the ability of governments and communities to provide adequate resources for older adults, and the prevalence of chronic disease and disability.
Heath Care Costs – The cost of care is skyrocketing and as we get older, we require more care. The regular office visits, specialists, procedures and medications – all of these are very costly and they impact the resources of seniors dramatically. Consistently, this tops every list of senior citizen concerns.
An individual who experiences chronic stress is more likely to make unhealthy lifestyle choices, which causes additional health problems. In other words, stress accelerates aging, and aging causes stress—it's a vicious cycle. Stress also affects the body on a cellular level.