How the Human Body Ages
Wrinkled skin and gray hair are usually what we first think of when we think of an elderly person. However, there is much more going on inside and outside the body.
Outward Signs of Aging
Skin loses fat layers, oil glands, and elasticity over the years, which changes its appearance. Skin appearance is also affected by nutrition, hormones, sun exposure, and heredity. Loss of fat layers causes skin to bruise more easily, get bed sores, and causes a person to become cold more often. Deposits of melanin, which causes skin to turn tan from the sun, cause age spots. Hair turns gray because it loses pigment.
What Happens Inside the Body as We Age?
The Cardio-Vascular System:
When people turn about 80 years old, they will begin to experience less blood flow. This causes a decrease in the size of the heart, and deposits of calcium to form in the heart valves, making valves hard and less flexible.
As we get older, we often experience reduced stamina, since less oxygen is being exchanged, making the person tired more often and more easily. This is obvious when we watch children at a park and compare them to people in their 50’s. It’s hard to remember having as much energy as a six year old.
Other cardiovascular risks that increase as we age include hypertension with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and congestive heart failure.
The Respiratory System
Airways and lung tissue become less elastic, causing more restricted breathing. Your intercostal muscles, which are muscles within the rib cage that assist in breathing, become weaker making it difficult to take deep breathes and cough. This can be worsened if the person smokes or has lived in a heavily polluted area.
These changes that result in decreased stamina, shortness of breath, and reduced oxygen levels can increase feelings of anxiety.
The Muscles
Muscles often become weaker and are replaced with fat, causing a loss of muscle tone and strength. This can cause reduced gastro-intestinal tract function, leading to constipation, and bladder incontinence.
However, regular exercise, such as walking, can greatly reduce these problems at any age.
The Bones
Around age 35, men and women begin to lose bone density due to the loss of calcium. This can lead to: osteoporosis, possible spontaneous bone fractures, and a reduction of height and changes in posture.
Arthritis, the inflammation of the joints, is a very common condition among the elderly. One form of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which is the wearing away of the joint cartilage. The second type is rheumatoid arthritis, which is a disease of the connective tissues. Both of these reduce mobility and can make everyday activities more difficult.
The Nervous System
After age 25, everyone loses nerve cells, reducing response time and coordination. Sleep is often disrupted and overall sleeping time is often reduced.
The Gastrointestinal System
With aging, people experience a reduction in digestive enzymes, saliva, and taste buds. This can result in impaired swallowing and slower emptying of the stomach.
Food is not broken down or absorbed as good as it used to be. This often results in vitamin B, C, and K deficiencies and even malnutrition. These vitamin deficiencies can have some adverse effects, such as muscle cramping, bruising, reduced appetite, mental confusion, and illness.
Metabolism
Metabolism is the rate at which food is changed into energy useable by the body. After age 25, the human metabolism is reduced by about 1% every year. Food and medication are absorbed less well.
Sexuality
Sexual desire and performance may continue well into a person’s 70s, 80s, and 90s. In women, vaginal fluids productions are reduced. Men experience less sperm production, reduced sensitivity, and enlarged prostates. Men and women both need more stimulation to be aroused and to orgasm.
Vision
It is estimated that the elderly require three times the amount of illumination to see as well as a young person. An increase in nearsightedness requires more time to focus and makes small print harder to read. The lens of the eye often thickens and yellows. This results in: increased sensitivity to glare, decreased depth perception, and more difficulty seeing pastel colors, especially blue and green. There is an increased incidence of cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy with age.
Hearing
With age, there are changes to the bones and cochlear hair cells of the inner ear cause a decrease in sensitivity to high frequency tones and less ability to distinguish between similar pitches.
Hearing loss is common among the elderly. About 30% of the elderly have some hearing impairment.
Hearing loss is an invisible impairment. It is often covered up or denied by the person. Those with undiagnosed hearing loss are often mislabeled as dumb, senile or uncooperative.
Source: Scharlach, Andrew E., and Barrie Robinson. The Aging Process. Berkley: University of California at Berkeley. http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~aging/ModuleProcess.html
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