“Interesting Facts About Aging”
Overall, most of the myths surrounding age seem to center on inevitability. People believe that it is inevitable that they will gradually deteriorate into dust as their lives become increasingly unbearable, boring, passionless, and painful. But, admittedly, certain aspects of health do decline with age. Examples of aging-associated diseases are atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, cataracts, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and Alzheimer’s disease. The incidence of all of these diseases increases exponentially with age. Physiological changes occur with aging in all organ systems. The cardiac output decreases, blood pressure increases, and arteriosclerosis develops. The lungs show impaired gas exchange, a decrease in vital capacity and slower expiratory flow rates. When you reach your sixties, your skin turns drier and itchier and may look like crepe paper or tissue. Wrinkles, age spots, creases, and bruises become more noticeable. Your sweat glands also get less active. That means you might not sweat as much, but wounds on your skin may take longer to heal. Also, certain things can cause us to age faster. Hormone changes, environmental factors, genetics, and your diet all play a role in how quickly we age. Cardiovascular disease remains the most common cause of death of older adults, although death rates have dropped in the last 20 years. At what age are we considered “old?” A typical woman in the United States is old at age 73, and a typical man at age 70.
