Ageing is a natural process which is defined as a life transition that includes retirement, relocation to appropriate housing, and the death of friends and partners .The term “elderly” is applied to those individuals belonging to age 60 years and above, who represent the fastest growing segment of populations throughout the world. Biologically, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory tract disease, and Alzheimer’s disease are the leading causes of death in ageing. Alongside biological changes, ageing is also associated with many neurological disorders, as the capacity of the brain to transmit signals and communicate reduces. The loss of the very persona from dementia, neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease, and stroke are observed in the process. Similar common conditions as mentioned are termed as “geriatric syndromes” which occur mostly due to cognitive impairment and are often the consequence of multiple underlying factors and include frailty, urinary incontinence, falls, delirium and pressure ulcers.
The musculoskeletal changes related to ageing are a decrease in bone and muscle mass and an increase in adiposity. A decline in muscle mass and a reduction in muscle strength lead to risk of fractures, frailty, reduction in the quality of life and loss of independence whereas muscle wasting in frail older persons is termed ‘sarcopenia’ and this disorder leads to a higher incidence of falls and fractures and a functional decline.
The total amount of muscle fibers is decreased due to a depressed productive capacity of cells to produce protein. After the age of 40, there is a loss in lean tissue and body organs like the liver, kidneys and other organs start losing some of their cells.
Life expectancy has continued to rise through the second half of the twentieth century, driven mainly by increases in survival in middle and old age. Studies in geographical locations which have centenarians and increased longevity in its population have found a lucky combination of favorable genetic background and environmental factors that exert their influence in critical periods over the lifespan. Falls have been strongly linked with disability which is widely observed in the ageing process. These occur due to use of sedative medications, cognitive impairment, lower extremity disability, and balance and gait abnormalities and result in progressive disability and catastrophic disability, indicating a slow downhill course and a rapid decline, respectively.
Although some of the variation is genetic, physical and social environments have a significant role to play when it comes to ageing. Maintaining healthy behaviors that include eating a balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity, and refraining from tobacco use l contribute to reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and improving physical and mental capacity, hence longevity. Preserving cognition, reduced dependency and decreased frailty which occur after having engaged in strength training which maintains muscle mass, have been found to reduce the onset of age related diseases and increase lifespan. As reported from places which have a large number of centenarians, it was revealed that most of these centenarians were independent in their self-care activities daily living and free of disabling conditions up to their late nineties.
A supportive environment in our homes, neighborhood, communities also influences ageing and on the whole, a cumulative impact of one’s ethnicity, personal characteristics such as age, environment and behaviors determine the process of ageing.
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References:
“Ageing and Health.” World Health Organization, 5 Feb. 2018, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health.
Amraya, Shilpa, et al. “Ageing Process and Physiological Changes.” Intech Open, 4 July 2018, www.intechopen.com/books/gerontology/ageing-process-and-physiological-changes.
Ferrucci, Luigi et al. “Epidemiology of aging.” Radiologic clinics of North America vol. 46,4 (2008): 643-52, v. doi:10.1016/j.rcl.2008.07.005
Written by: Unaiza Naeem
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