Personal Health and Well-Being

The Elderly Citizen

Biological Aging

Biological Aging is a process of intrinsic, progressive, and generalized physical deterioration that occurs over time. Intrinsic aging includes decreases in lung capacity, loss of brain cells, and hardened arterties. Extrinsic aging changes in the body due to sunlight, smoking, or noise.

Theories of Aging

Wear & Tear Theory suggests that the body simply wears out.. The body has a maximum life span an major physiological systems deteriorate at at relatively set rate. Cells in all major systems lose the ability to repair damage with time. This deterioration is hastened by environmental and lifestyle factors but is genetically predetermined.

Cross-Link Theory

Cross-linking theory is the long term exposure of proteins to glucose molecules. Glucose molecules attach themselves to proteins which results in proteins binding together or cross-linking. Cross links toughen tissue and cause some of the damage associated with aging, such as stiffened connective tissue , hardened arteries and loss of nerve and kidney function.

Free Radical Theory

Oxygen can damage cells and their content. Free radicals are molecules that have an unpaired electron, a large amount of free energy, and a tendency to bond with other molecules. The molecules attach to protein in the body, impairing the functioning of health cells.

The damage to the body occurs when cross links and free radicals accumulate, damaging cellular structures. Free radicals are believed to impair the bodys ability to fight cancer, repair cell damange and prvent low density fat cells from clinging to artery wall. Adding antioxidants to multivitamins is an effort to stabilize free radicals and thus slow the process of cell damange and promote healing( yellow, orange, and red vegetables, peaches, oranges, tomatoes, Vitamin C and Vitamin E ).

Effects of Aging on the Body

Musculoskeletal System Endocrine System Taste, Smell, Sight, Hearing and Touch Skin, Hair, Nails Urinary Tract System Gastrointestional System Neurological System Cardiovascular System

How does Aging effect the Musculoskeletal System?

Muscle and bone content decrease with age. Studies report that muscles begin to lose strength by age 20 or 30. Muscle mass can decrease by 50 percent by age 80. The skeletal system changes with age. Bones replace about 10 % of their content each year, but from about age 20 on, the bones lose more cells than they replace. They also lose hardness and density. This makes them less able to twist and bend without

Musculoskeletal System

Women lose between 20 and 25 % of their bone mass during the ten years after menopause. Men lose bone mass at a slower rate than women. Research shows that exercise can slow the rate of bone loss such as weight bearing exercises. It increases bone density, builds muscle and helps a person maintain the appropriate weight and improves balance.

Men and women lose body height due to the compression of the vertebrae in the spine. Women may become up to three inches shorter due to skeletal changes associated with the loss of estrogen following menopause. The spine may become more curved, contributin got he illusion that elders are chronially slouching.

The combinatio of a curved spine and loss of muscle strenth contribute to a tendency for elders to have difficulties in maintaining their balance. The most familiar musculoskeletal disease associated with aging is arthritis. Caused by deterioration of cartilage accompanied by the development of bone spurs on the joint surface.

Osteoporosis

Women face one of the most damaging effects of aging on the musculoskeletal systemosteoporosis. The thinning and deteriorati nof bone inegrity. Postmenopausal osteoporosis affects women and iscaused bhy the lack of estrogen in the body following menopause

Are you at risk for Osteoporosis?

High risk Factors that are genetically determined are: Being female Having a family history Being of Northern European or Asian ancestry Being small boned or very thin Having fair coloring, such as blonde or red hari and fair skin or freckles. Early menopause Inability to digest milk or milk products

Osteoporosis

Other High Risk Lifesysle or Medical Factors: Having had a preganncy during teen years A medial history that includes the loss of the ovaries Eating disorders, chronic diarrha, kidney or liver disease Lack of exercise or excessive exercise High alcohol intake, lwo calcium diets or vitam d deficiency Hgih caffein intake and smoking

Musculoskeletal System

The oldest-old people improve their muscle mass and strength with weight training. Studies (older men) have shown that weight training reported increases in muscle size and strength. Nearly 1.5 million older women each year in the US suffer bone fractures due to falls.

Endocrine System

Hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, ovaries and testes. The hypothalamus, a gland that regualtes water treatmetn by the kidney, can produce imbalance in an older persons body in times of acute illness. Th epituitary gland in women at around age 55 stops producing hormones to stimulate the ovaries. Men experience a 35 percent decrease in testosterone levels between ages 21 and 85. This leads to a gradual decrease in sexual activiity form the teens to old age.

Touch

Decreased blood circulation to the skin and degeneration of receptors to the brain may account for the loss of the sense touch. Most elders have a higher threshold for pain. They do not experience pain with the same intensity as when they were younger. A decreased ability to feel sensation can lead to injury from burns and slower reaction time to pain

Sight

Changes in vision begin as early as age 30 when people begin to experience presyopia, the inabili8ty to change the foucs of the lens for near vision. Phone books, newspapers and other small print become increasingly difficult to red at clsoe range. This happens because the lens of the eye becomes less elastic and therfore less able to adjust to the rapid change necessary when going form distance vision to close vision.

Sight

Eyes produce fewer tears. The eyes pupil compared with tis sixe at age 20 decreases by about two-thirds by age 60. Lose sensitivity to light and loss of color sensitivity Harder time seeing a contrast beetween light and dark as they age.

Cataracts

Film that clouds the lens of the eye is not part of normal changes in the eye. Found more frequently in African Amer The development of cataracts are connected to a lack of antioxidants such as vitamins A, C and E which are frequently missing in a h9gh fat, high carbohydrate diet.

Glaucoma

May lead to blindness The presence of excessive or insufficient fliuid in the eye, which produces abnormal pressure. Untreated, it leads to tunnel vision. It is the leading casue of blindness in African Americans .

Hearing

A person loses some hearing each year after age 50. Men lose hearing at twice the rate of women after age 30. Types of hearing loss: presbycusis, tinnitus and conductive hearing.

Presbycusis

Progressive loss of hearing and the inability to distinguish between different frequencies of sound Caused by age related changes in the bones that conduct sound in the inner ear along with loss of cells in the cranial nerve.

Tinnitus

Ringing or roaring in the ear. Loud noises, medications and other health problems may cause this. Must avoid loud noises Music soothes this problem.

Conductive Hearing

Blockage in the ear canal Wax buildup Clean your ears out!!! (SMILE)

Taste and Smell

We have about 9000 taste buds. By age 40 to 50 in women and age 50 to 60 in men, the number of taste bud declines and decreases in size. Taste sensitivity to salty and sweet foods tend to decrease first.

Smell and Touch

Decrease in smell-loss of interest in food may lead to weight loss and poor health. Poor smell can put a person at risk if they cant smell a gas leak or rotten food. Decreased blood circulation to the skin and degeneration of receptors to the brain may account for the loss of the sense of touch. A decreased ability to feel sensation can lead to injury from burns slower reaction to pain.

Skin

Wrinkles are caused by a loss of subcutaneous fat and water beneath the skins surface Skin becomes thnner and less flecible as the body ages. Sun exposures is the primary cause of intense pigmentation on the hands and face, known as liver spots.

Skin

Persons who have had excessive exposure to the sun may begin to show wrinkling of the skin as early as the 30s. African amerian elders, on the contrary, may be well into their 50 and 60s before any wrinkling occurs. This is due to a difference in oil content in their skin. Between age 30 and 70, the process in which skin cells are relaced as a normal part of the bodys maintenance process slows by 50 percent.

Skin

Bruise easily Slower healing process- blood circulation to the skin slows Elders need 50 percent more time to heal from wounds than younger people. Sensitivity to cold and heat- impaired blood circulation to the skin Elders are less likely to shiver to generate body heat or to sweat. As a result, aging bodies are less efficient at regulating body temperature.

Hair

Graying of the hair-Hair follicles lose melanin, the pigment present in hair and skin. Hair becomes thinner, beginning in the 40s due to the bodys decreased production of estrogen and testosterone combined with the scalps decreased efficiency in replacing lost hair. Men become bald ( more determined by genetics than the aging process)

Hair and Nails

Hair growht increases on other parts of the body in men and women. Hair growth in the nose, ears, and eyebrows Finger and toe nails become thicker and drier, which can present a hygiene problem as reaching ones feet become more difficult.

Neurological System

Brain weight is reduced by 10 percent by age 75 due to loss of fluid, this changes does not cause a loss of brain functioning. The brain has the capacity to rerout functions to diffeent parts of the brain, particularly those that control intelligence and cognitive operations. Responsed time to stimuli is slowed.

Sleep Patterns

Change in Sleep Patterns Less efficient sleep Elders may need only 6 hours of sleep byut fal into a pattern of napping during the day- a circadian rhythm that more closely resembles and infants pattern rather than that of an adut.

Heart and Blood Vessels

Heart and blood vessels becomes less efficient as the body ages. Increaed amounts of fat and collagen are deposited in the heart muscles, reducing cardiac output. The valves of the heart become more rigid, making the heart work harder.

All major blood vessels have some degree of atherosclerosis-deposits of fat that accumulate over time. These deposits make it more difficult for the ehar to pump the blood efficiently thorughout the bodyu and to use oxygen efficiently. They reduce the size and elasticity of the large arterties that pump blod to large organs such as the stomach, liver and brain. Exercise improves cariovascular fucntioning.

Heart Disease

Two primary types of cardiovascular disease contribute to maiing heart diseas the number one killer of oler adults. 1st- Coronary heart disease, hardening of the arterties, restricts blood flow to the heart, resulting in heart muscle damage or a heart attack. Elders have more diffuse symptoms of a heart attack than younger persons and complain more about a generalized discomfort and fatigue rather than an intense, heavy pain in the chest.

Congestive heart failure- heart fails to pump enough blood throughout the body. Elders may complain about chronic fatigue, weakness or edema- the accumulation of fluid in the joints 2nd- ( not restricted to elders) Hypertension or high blood pressure. Hypertension is twice as common among african american elders as it is mong their whtie counterparts. High blood pressure- silent killer Can be treated with meds

Urinary Tract System

Kidneys are less efficient in screening toxins and restoring ionic balance to blood. The abilit of the kidneys to perform its function diminshes by as much as 50 percent as the body ages. Kidneys may lsoe the ability to absord glucose, thereby contributing to a grater tendency among elders tjo become seriously dehydratged. Both the ureters (tubes leading from the kidneys to the bladder and the bladder tend to lose muscle tone, which may result in incomplete emptying of the bladder.

Urinary Tract System

Incontinence Elders may experience a delayed sensation of needing to empty the bladder due in part to the less efficeint operatio nof the bodys neurological system. Incontinence may develop as a result of the decreased bladder capacity and delayed senation of urge. For men, urinary tract problems may be exacerbated by problems associated with the prostate. Enlargement of the prostrate may result in problems with starting and stopping urine flow, incomplet bladder emptying or frequent urges to urinat.

Gastrointestinal System

Some people begin to experience the symptoms of an aging digestive system early in middle age and other elders notice little diffeence other some dimnished appetite due to sensory losses in taste and smell than to acutal changes in the digestive system. As the body ages, the esophagus( digestive tube) may narror or become less elastic. As a rsult, it may take more time for dfood to pass into the stomach. Stomach secretes fewer digestive juicesheartburn may be an issue.

Small and large intestines decrease in weight due to the general loss of water in the body. Constipation Serious weight loss

Compressiojn of Morbidity Hypothesis

As life expectancy increased, people would have fewer eyars of disability, suffer less from chronic disease, and need less medical care. A lot of disagreement about this . Researchers reasoned that we cannot control diseases like arthritis and alzheimers . So , the prevalence of thse disease would increse as more people lived longer. They believe that the tottal number of diabled peole in society would increse in the future. Several Studies have supported the compression of morbidity People with higher educational status showed a compression of morbidiity, but those with less education showed an expansio of morbidity. Healthier life sysles, exercise and good public health would lead to healthier life into late old age. . Studies find that higher socioeconomic status , smoking reduction and regualr physical activiity al lead to a relative compression of morbidity.