Aging: What to expect (2023)

FAQs

What to expect when you are aging? ›

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.

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.

After age 30, people tend to lose lean tissue. Your muscles, liver, kidney, and other organs may lose some of their cells. This process of muscle loss is called atrophy. Bones may lose some of their minerals and become less dense (a condition called osteopenia in the early stages and osteoporosis in the later stages).

The hardest parts of getting older are losing your loved ones, dealing with your deteriorating mental and physical health, and accepting the changes in your appearance. These changes are inevitable as we get older. But getting older is not all bad. In fact, some things in life get better with age.

At a minimum, bathing once or twice a week helps most seniors avoid skin breakdown and infections. Using warm washcloths to wipe armpits, groin, genitals, feet, and any skin folds also helps minimize body odor in between full baths.

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.

It seems obvious, but tending to your physical health—doing what you can to preserve and improve your health habits – is key to a good quality of life in later years. Don't smoke, exercise regularly, don't drink alcohol to excess and follow your doctor's health advice.

One way of approaching the needs of your older patients during this pandemic is to break everything down into three basic categories of wellbeing and aging gracefully: physical, mental, and emotional. These categories often overlap, which is why holistic medicine, such as chiropractic, is on the rise.

The results offer important new insights into what happens as we age. For example, the team suggests that the biological aging process isn't steady and appears to accelerate periodically — with the greatest bursts coming, on average, around ages 34, 60, and 78.

Do you get more tired as you age? ›

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.

Men tend to gain weight until age 55, and then slowly start to lose it in the years that follow. This could be because men produce less testosterone after this age. Women, on the other hand, usually stop gaining weight once they hit age 65.

A new study suggests that stopping or even reversing the aging process is impossible. In a collaborative effort from scientists worldwide, including experts from the University of Oxford, it was concluded that aging is inevitable due to biological constraints, The Guardian reported.

Why You're Afraid of Getting Older. For some, it's a fear of the physical changes that come with aging. For others, it's the fear of losing their independence and becoming a burden on their loved ones. And for many, it's the fear of death itself.

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.

In one large study from the Brookings Institute, for example, scientists found happiness was high for 18- to 21-year-olds and then dropped steadily until about age 40. But past middle age, the pattern began to reverse—gradually climbing back up to its highest point at age 98!

Getting old means you will lose physical strength, flexibility and balance. The aging process brings losses in muscle and bone mass and muscle strength decline after age 30. That's right, age 30! Those changes are pretty small from 30-50, though.

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.

While a mild case of body odor and a disheveled appearance can be a minor cause for concern, other seniors neglect their hygiene so much that it can jeopardize their overall health. For example, it can put them at risk of urinary tract infections or skin infections and put a damper on their mental health, as well.

Is 70 considered elderly? ›

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.

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.

“Caffeine is like any other diuretic; it can make you excrete fluid, and deplete your body of moisture”, says Dr. Hirsch. “Anything dehydrating can dehydrate your skin, making it look dull and aged”.

Take proper care of your health.

Take basic care of yourself by making sure to see your doctor and dentist regularly. Stay up to date on your health tests as you age. Get good sleep. Wear sunscreen.

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.

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.

The World Health Organization's active ageing model is based on the optimisation of four key “pillars”: health, lifelong learning, participation and security.

Experts widely consider exercise, good nutrition, relaxation and sleep crucial to healthy living. While these so-called “four pillars” of good health help keep your body running, they also do wonders for your emotional well-being.

As far as the female or male aging timeline, the biggest changes typically occur when people are in their 40s and 50s. However, it's not unlikely to notice changes in your mid to late-30s, as well. Some of the first signs of aging are droopy skin, smile lines, and wrinkles. These changes can be jarring, but natural.

Why do some people age so well? ›

When it comes to aging, some people are just luckier. Genetics play a significant role in how fast you age, so if your parents aged really well, that may be the case for you too. Your skin's thickness, color, and vascularity can determine how quickly damage or signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles appear.

For Caucasian women, it's typically around the late 30s. "This is when fine lines on the forehead and around the eyes, less-elastic skin, and brown spots and broken capillaries from accumulated sun damage crop up," says Yagoda. If you're a woman of color, the tipping point is more likely in your 40s.

Boredom, depression, chronic pain and/or nutritional deficiencies can be some of the underlying causes that account for excessive daytime sleeping. Medications can also be a problem.

Those extra pounds were packed on in early adulthood: The average American gained about 17.6 pounds from their mid-20s to mid-30s, the study found. Meanwhile, the average person gained about 14.3 pounds between their 30s and 40s, 9.5 pounds between their 40s and 50s, and 4.6 pounds between their 50s and 60s.

Here's something to ponder as you consider whether to ditch that New Year's resolution to exercise more: Your 20s are your prime weight-gaining years, according to data from the CDC. The charts above are approximations of typical lifetime weight gain, based on CDC data, which is reported in 10-year increments.

Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.

At the biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease and ultimately death.

Can You Reverse Aging From Stress? With short-term stress, there is always some reversibility. But the longer a person is under stress, the more permanent the physical signs of aging can become.

Mental and physical decline, losing loved ones, not being able to financially support oneself or loved ones, and becoming a burden or dependent on family members and friends are some of the reasons people fear getting old.

What does old age feel like? ›

With age, you might have difficulty focusing on objects that are close up. You might become more sensitive to glare and have trouble adapting to different levels of light. Aging also can affect your eye's lens, causing clouded vision (cataracts). Your hearing also might diminish.

Is it possible to reverse aging? You cannot wholly reverse aging—it's a normal part of life. However, you may be able to slow it down and help prevent age-related diseases by adopting a healthy lifestyle. That includes habits like eating a healthy diet, wearing sunscreen every day, and exercising (Shanbhag, 2019).

Common conditions in older age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression and dementia. As people age, they are more likely to experience several conditions at the same time.

Most people begin to notice a shift in the appearance of their face around their 40's and 50's, with some also noticing a change in their 30's. But with these physical changes brought on by aging also comes a change in the appearance of our face - Luckily, there is treatment available.

These hallmarks are: genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, deregulated nutrient-sensing, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication.

What is the main cause of aging? ›

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.

This is called extrinsic aging. As a result, premature aging can set in long before it was expected. In other words, your biological clock is more advanced than your chronological clock. Controllable factors such as stress, smoking and sun exposure can all play a role in expediting extrinsic aging.

Getting old means you will lose physical strength, flexibility and balance. The aging process brings losses in muscle and bone mass and muscle strength decline after age 30. That's right, age 30! Those changes are pretty small from 30-50, though.

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.

When it comes to aging, some people are just luckier. Genetics play a significant role in how fast you age, so if your parents aged really well, that may be the case for you too. Your skin's thickness, color, and vascularity can determine how quickly damage or signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles appear.