Late adulthood spans the time when we reach our mid-sixties until death. This is the longest developmental stage across the lifespan.
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.
Who is Defined as Elderly? Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly.
This time span is generally referred to as "middle age" and can be defined as the time of ages about 40+ to about 60+, depending also on sexes. Many changes may occur between young adulthood and this stage.
Late adulthood (old age) is generally considered to begin at about age 65.
People's health in their 70s varies a lot. Some people are completely healthy while others have multiple illnesses. No matter what your condition, there is a lot you can do to improve your health, prevent illnesses, and keep your brain sharp.
For example, Katie Hill, M.D., CMO of Nudj Health, and board-certified psychiatrist says most people consider middle age to occur between the ages of 46 and 65 while some other health experts even believe that middle age spans from 40-60 (give or take 10 years).
Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults—7 to 9 hours each night. But, older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger. There are many reasons why older people may not get enough sleep at night.
A1 Main life stages: Infants (birth to 2 years) Early childhood (3–8 years) Adolescence (9–18 years) Early adulthood (19–45 years) Middle adulthood (46–65 years) Later adulthood (65+ years).
middle age, period of human adulthood that immediately precedes the onset of old age. Though the age period that defines middle age is somewhat arbitrary, differing greatly from person to person, it is generally defined as being between the ages of 40 and 60.
Some signs of aging can be seen from the outside: Your hair turns gray, and wrinkles and age spots appear on your skin. Our bodies are less able to store fluid in older age, so our spinal discs shrink and lose elasticity, for instance. As a result, people get smaller as they grow older.
The major cause of death in the 55-64 age group is cancer followed by heart disease and injury. In the 75+ age group, the leading cause shifts to heart disease, and injury drops below Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), cerebrovascular diseases, and pneumonia.
However, as we age, many may notice their energy levels aren't as high as they once were – suddenly afternoon naps become even more appealing. In fact, according to a study by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society in 2010, nearly a third of people aged 51 and up experience fatigue.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), healthy seniors should walk 7,000 – 10,000 steps per day. That's an average of three to three and a half miles throughout the course of a day.
However, if a man is healthy enough to reach age 70 this year, the Social Security actuarial tables indicate he could live an average of 15.4 years more.
“The exponential growth explains why there is such a sudden change in frailty after the age of 70, why ageing hits at that sort of age,” said Campbell. Faster-growing blood stem cells are linked to blood cancers and anaemia, but also make people less resilient to infections and medical treatments such as chemotherapy.
What “70 is the new 50” actually means today, is that if you're 70, you have at least another 12 years to work before you can retire. AARP formerly stood for the American Association of Retired Persons. Presumably they decided that was too long for folks to remember, so they officially changed it to just the acronym.
Researchers with Duke University's School of Medicine suggest that physical decline begins in the decade of the 50s and worsens as we age, especially for those who don't exercise.
Older adults' unique nutrition needs
Choose foods with little to no added sugar, saturated fats, and sodium. To get enough protein throughout the day and maintain muscle, try adding seafood, dairy, or fortified soy products along with beans, peas, and lentils to your meals.
Age Periods during Late Adulthood
In this chapter, we will be dividing the stage into four age periods: Young–old (60-74), old-old (75-84), the oldest-old (85-99), and centenarians (100+).
Middle Childhood (6-8 years of age)
Generally speaking, the golden years begin at age 65 and last until age 80 and beyond. However, some experts question whether “golden years” still belongs in our vocabulary because the time span and definition of retirement have changed over the past half-century. “Older Americans live longer now than they did in 1960.