Natural changes happen in the body as we age, such as skin damage from sun exposure, loss of muscle and physical strength, loss of some sight and hearing, as well as changes to our sleep patterns, energy levels and appetite.
Wrinkles, age spots and small growths called skin tags are more common.
Skin changes are among the most visible signs of aging. Evidence of increasing age includes wrinkles and sagging skin. Whitening or graying of the hair is another obvious sign of aging.
Dementia and aging
Dementia is not a normal part of aging. It includes the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, learning, and reasoning — and behavioral abilities to the extent that it interferes with a person's quality of life and activities.
You might be surprised to know that your face is not actually the part of your body that ages the fastest. It is, in fact, your breasts. A study, published by the journal Genome Biology has found that breast tissue is the part of the body that's most sensitive to the affects of ageing.
Aging is likely caused by a combination of reasons. Some theories suggest cells have a predetermined lifespan, while others claim it's caused by error and damage. Other theories say that aging is due to genetic, evolution, or biochemical reactions.
Older cells function less well. Also, in some organs, cells die and are not replaced, so the number of cells decreases. The number of cells in the testes, ovaries, liver, and kidneys decreases markedly as the body ages.
According to the research, the average American starts feeling old at the age of 47. Similarly, the average respondent starts to really worry about age-related bodily changes around 50 years old.
In broader terms, aging can be broken down into three distinct and often related categories: biological aging, psychological aging, and social 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.
They also identify “seven pillars” of aging, intertwined processes driving the aging process. They are: adaption to stress, epigenetics, inflammation, macromolecular damage, metabolism, proteostasis, and stem cells and regeneration. Through study of these processes, experts hope to find ways to slow down 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.
Your Bones, Joints, and Muscles
Your muscles get weaker, and the tendons -- which connect muscles to your skeleton -- get stiffer. This will decrease your strength and flexibility. In your 70s, you might lose an inch or two off your height as disks in your back flatten.
As people get older, they have less energy to get things done each day. Usually, personal hygiene (specifically bathing) is one of those things that gets neglected. So how often should an elderly bathe? To avoid any skin conditions or infections, a senior should bathe at least once or twice a week.
Over time, studies have shown that metabolic rate (how fast we burn calories) starts to slow down by 2 to 3 percent each decade, beginning in our 20s. It becomes more noticeable between ages 40 and 60.
From your 60s on, your health risks generally increase. At ages 60 through 80, much of the health problems women are at risk for in their 50s are the same — the risk just increases as time goes on. The risk for heart disease increases significantly for both women and men in their 60s.
There are two main culprits that accelerate the aging process of our skin: sun exposure and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) .
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.
Exercise is one of the best ways to delay aging. And with good reason: too much time sitting (sedentary behavior) is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and an early death. Aerobic activity is any activity that causes you to breathe harder than normal and your heart to beat faster.
Australia's older generation (those aged 65 and over) continues to grow in number and as a share of the population. The ageing of the population creates both pressures and opportunities for Australia's health and welfare sectors.
Ageing, an inevitable process, is commonly measured by chronological age and, as a convention, a person aged 65 years or more is often referred to as 'elderly'.
Usually, our energy declines because of normal changes. Both genes and environment lead to alterations in cells that cause aging muscles to lose mass and strength and to become less flexible. As a result, strenuous activities become more tiring.