Old Age - Changes Associated With Aging

Changes Associated With Aging

There is often a general physical decline, and people become less active. Old age can cause, amongst other things:

• Wrinkles and liver spots on the skin due to loss of subcutaneous fat
• Change of hair color to gray or white
• Hair loss
• Reduced circulatory system function and blood flow
• Reduced lung capacity
• Reduced immune system function
• Changes in the vocal cords that produce the typical "old person" voice
• Heightened risk for injury from falls that otherwise would not cause injury.
• Lessened and weakened hearing. Of individuals 75 and older, 48% of men and 37% of women encounter difficulties in hearing. Of the 26.7 million people over age 50 with a hearing impairment, only one in seven use a hearing aid
• Diminished eyesight. It becomes more difficult to read in low lighting and in smaller print. Speed with which an individual reads may also be impaired.
• Reduced mental and cognitive ability.
• Depressed mood
• Lessening or cessation of sex, sometimes because of physical symptoms such as erectile dysfunction in men, but often simply a decline in libido.
• Greater susceptibility to bone and joint diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoperosis
• Memory loss is common due to the decrease in speed of information being encoded, stored, and received. It may take more time to learn new information.

Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is found in old age. It is a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases.

• Behavioral changes can include wandering, physical aggression, and verbal outbursts due to diseases such as depression, psychosis, or dementia. Although current Alzheimer's treatments cannot stop Alzheimer's from progressing, they can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of life for those with Alzheimer's and their caregivers. Today, there is a worldwide effort under way to find better ways to treat the disease, delay its onset, and prevent it from developing.

According to Cox, Abramson, Devine, and Hollon (2012), old age is a risk factor for depression caused by prejudice (i.e., “deprejudice”). When someone is prejudiced against the elderly and then becomes old themselves, their anti-elderly prejudice turns inward, causing depression. “People with more negative age stereotypes will likely have higher rates of depression as they get older.”

It must be stressed that each individual is different, and health issues that affect one elderly person may not affect another.