What happens to the body during aging: two popular theories

Without exception people age. But there are changes that are natural to the aging process, and there are those that people make themselves because of the wrong lifestyle.

This tells the teacher the Central Queensland University Lisa Hee, transfers “modern times”.

Some 30 years might need glasses, to 40 – people begin to understand that to maintain my body weight harder, to 50 – it becomes apparent, that will not happen so actively playing with the children, as before, and to the 60 – there is a risk of not hearing what we say on the other side of the table.

There are many theories why people age, but the most popular two. The first is that life expectancy determines the DNA through the genes. According to the second – our body and DNA eventually fade, at some point they simply could no longer function. In other words, wear out.

The aging brain

With age, brain volume decreases. There’s a different explanation. One of them is the death of cells due to wear of their structure. Other – due to changes in hormonal balance. Some also attribute this to the reduction in the volume of blood flowing to the brain, which is associated with transformations in the blood vessels. However, this does not affect the ability of a person to have a good memory because the brain is able to compensate for these changes.

Many of you probably know about neuroplastic. A term denoting the process of updating the brain by creating new pathways inside nerve cells to compensate for the caused damage. The brain does this itself. New paths appear when a person gets new experience. Thus, if you a lifetime to solve crossword puzzles, it will not increase the number of paths in your brain. Much more effective to engage in any new activity, which will require new knowledge and practices.

With age, the risk of developing dementia increases, and there are a lot of reasons. However, dementia is not a normal aging process. It is the result of brain damage. Elderly people suffer from this disease usually only for one reason: the longer we live, the more likely to get injured or acquire some illness. These are the main causes of dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease – the most common cause of dementia in Australia. It is due to the accumulation of the product of protein breakdown, which inevitably leads to the formation of fibre structures in the brain.

Changes in muscular force

With age, volume and strength in human muscle tissue are also reduced. The main reason is the decline in hormones. To compensate for the loss of muscle mass in one day of strict bed rest, older people may need to do exercises for two weeks.

Muscle mass may decline even more if the human activity decreases. This is beyond the scope of normal aging process.

Bone strength

As you age the body absorbs less calcium from food, a vital mineral for bone strength. Changes in hormones also affect bone strength. Aging people often spend less time in the sun, which reduces the intake of vitamin D. This, in turn, reduces the absorption of calcium.

It is important that people in older age continued to exercise. This will not only help to maintain muscle tone, but will also help to preserve bone strength, thereby reducing the risk of falls and fractures.

The change in senses

The changes occurring in the aging process also affect vision, hearing, taste and smell. Most often the first people to notice the deterioration of vision that causes them to think about old age.

As part of the process of aging of the lens of the eye become stiffer, reducing the number of nerve cells and the fluid in the eye. This is more difficult to focus on near objects, to consider something in bad light and also to adapt to the deteriorating light.

Some people seem awkward, because they find it difficult to correctly estimate the distance between the objects (the cups on the table, the height of the stairs). Many do not realize that constantly stumble and spill something just because they can’t see. Eyes can become more dry, from what start to get annoyed. This can be treated with lubricating drops.

Hearing impairment is manifested in the change of perception of high frequency sounds. Understanding the words becomes harder. To speak with someone louder in this situation will not help, because the problem is the sound, not the volume. Better try to speak more slowly and well vygovarival words.

Taste and smell also deteriorate with age because of reduced number of cells responsible for their sharpness, and the ability to restore the cells weakens. As a result, the food becomes less tasty, people are less hungry. In addition, you can generally change taste preferences. Young people, for example, loved chocolate, but with age can become addicted to Chile.

Thus, there are changes that are normal for the aging process, and there are those that people make themselves because of the wrong lifestyle. We are not all doomed to grow old in descending order. In many ways, old age is affected by the kind of lifestyle we were young.

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