Late Adulthood: Biosocial Development Part VIII Chapter Twenty-Three Late Adulthood: Biosocial Development Prejudice and Predictions Senescence Theories of Aging The Centenarians Prepared by Madeleine Lacefield Tattoon, M.A.

Late Adulthood: Biosocial Development the last phase of life 65 until death there are biosocial changes in the senses, vital organs, morbidity, mortality

Prejudice and Predications Prejudice about late adulthood is common among people of all ages Ageism a prejudice in which people are categorized and judged solely on the basis of their chronological age

Prejudice and Predications “Ageism is a social disease, much like racism and sexism” It relies on stereotypes, creating “needless fear, waste, illness, and misery

Prejudice and Predications Ageism Against Young and Old the calculation of “quality-adjusted life years” (QALYs), often discounts the years of late adulthood--that is ageist Ageism is “pigeon-holding people and not allowing them to be individuals with unique ways of living their lives”

Prejudice and Predications Elderspeak a condescending way of speaking to older adults that resembles baby talk, with simple and short sentences, exaggerated emphasis, repetition, and a slower rate and a higher pitch than normal speech

Prejudice and Predications Gerontology the multidisciplinary study of old age Geriatrics the medical specialty devoted to aging

Prejudice and Predications The Demographic Shift millions of people worldwide are reaching old age, and it is harder to be ageist when many of one’s neighbors and relative are old

Prejudice and Predications The World’s Aging Population U.S. estimates that nearly 8% of the world’s population today is over age 65 most nations still have more children than older adults the second oldest age group is centenarians a person who has lived 100 years or more

Prejudice and Predications Dependents and Independence every society has independent, self-sufficient adults and “dependents” who need care dependency ratio is the ratio of self-sufficient, productive adults to dependents (children and the elderly) in a given population

Prejudice and Predications young-old healthy, vigorous, financially secure older adults (generally, those aged 60 to 75) who are well integrated into the lives of their families and communities old-old those over age 75 who suffer from physical, mental, or social deficits oldest-old those over age 85 who are dependent on others for almost everything, requiring supportive services such as nursing homes and hospital stays

Senescence a gradual physical decline related to aging… occurs to everyone in every body part but the rate of decline is highly variable the aging process, which is evident from adolescence on

Senescence primary aging secondary aging the universal and irreversible physical changes that occur to all living creatures as they grow older secondary aging the specific physical illnesses or conditions that become more common with aging but are caused by health habits, genes, and other influences that vary from person to person

Senescence high blood pressure (hypertension) Cardiovascular Disease the leading cause of death for both men and women high blood pressure (hypertension) is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, cognitive impairment, and many other aliments of late adulthood

Senescence Diseases of the Elderly most elderly people, even the oldest-old, do not have any particular disease disease defined as any condition that requires ongoing medical attention and/or interferes with daily life for at least a year heart attacks, strokes, lower-respiratory diseases, and cancer are more common in late adulthood

Senescence Health Habits Nutrition depend on individual choice and social context Nutrition with age the body becomes less efficient at digesting food and using its nutrients drugs also effect nutrition

Senescence Selective Optimization with Compensation Both depend on how well people respond… primary aging is increasingly stressful as aging continues secondary aging undermines well-being

Senescence Individual Compensation: Sleep older adults spend more time in bed take longer to fall asleep wake up often (10 times per night) take naps feel drowsy in the daytime optimization would mean making good use of sleep time

Senescence Social Compensation: Driving family members question their oldest relatives driving but hesitate to do something about it doctors don’t advise their elderly patients about driving if older drivers crash, people blame the driver, not the social context that allowed the driving

Senescence Exercise exercise in later life is important becomes difficult for older people weather can keep older people inside team sports are rarely organized for the elderly muscles stiffen and atrophy causes less range of motions less flexibility leads to aching backs

Senescence Drug Use cigarettes contribute to adulthood lung health problems alcohol use is either not at all or over used the elderly tend to use legal drugs and not usually at great risk of becoming addicted to the drugs

Senescence The Brain primary aging causes one cognitive change in everyone—the elderly think more slowly second crucial aspect of the physical aging of the brain—it gets smaller. Some areas shrink more than others older people use more parts of the brain, while young adults use more targeted areas of the brain

Senescence Physical Appearance Skin and Hair changes continue among the elderly, often with emotionally destructive results they are treated and glimpsed at in stereotypical ways Skin and Hair the skin reveals the first signs of aging becomes drier, thinner, and less elastic hair becomes grayer, turns white, and thins

Senescence Body Shape and Muscles visible physical changes occur become shorter—losing a centimeter every decade weigh less than in middle age; they have less muscle tissue—may indicate weakness, thinner bones, fracture risk and disease onset

Senescence Dulling of the Senses most troubling part of senescence is the loss of sensory ability senses become slower and less sharp with each decade technology can modify many of these losses

Senescence Compression of Morbidity a limiting of the time a person spends ill or infirm, accomplished by postponing illness and, once morbidity (illness) occurs, reducing the amount of time that remains before death

Theories of Aging “Can aging and even death itself be postponed, allowing the average person to live 100 healthy years or more instead of 75 or 85?”

Theories of Aging Wear and Tear a view of aging as a process by which the human body wears out because of the passage of time and exposure to environmental stressors

Theories of Aging Genetic Adaptation genetic clock a purported mechanism in the DNA of cells that regulates the aging process by triggering hormonal changes and controlling cellular reproduction and repair

Theories of Aging maximum life span average life expectancy the oldest possible age that members of a species can live under ideal circumstances for humans, the age is approximately 122 years average life expectancy the number of years the average newborn in a particular population group is likely to live

Theories of Aging Selective Adaptation the process by which humans and other organisms gradually adjust to their environment genes for the traits that are most useful will become more frequent, thus making survival of species more likely

Theories of Aging Cellular Aging people grow old because of the cells of their body becoming old, damaged, or exhausted—new cells continually created, each designed as the exact copy of an old cell

Theories of Aging Errors in Duplication oxygen free radicals this cell duplication may produce aging, because each cell is so complex that minor errors inevitably accumulate oxygen free radicals atoms of oxygen that as a result of metabolic processes, have an unpaired election—these atoms scramble DNA molecules or mitochondria producing errors in cell maintenance and repair that, over time, may cause cancer, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis antioxidants chemical compounds that nullify the effects of oxygen free radicals by forming a bond with their unattached oxygen electron

Theories of Aging The Immune System cells become less numerous as people age B cells immune cells manufactured in the bone marrow that create antibodies for isolating and destroying bacteria and viruses that invade the body T cells immune cell manufactured in the thymus gland that produce substances that attack infected cells in the body

Theories of Aging Hayflick limit the number of times a human cell is capable of dividing into two new cells the limit for most human cells is approximately 50 divisions an indication that the life span is limited by our genetic program

“How might your life be at 100?” The Centenarians “According to some scientist, most babies born today in developed countries will live to become centenarians (Kinsella, 2005)” “How might your life be at 100?”

The Centenarians Other Places, Other Stories 1970—three remote places Republic of Georgia, Pakistan, Ecuador a women over 130, drank a little vodka before breakfast and smoked a pack of cigarettes a day a man 100, fathered a child a village storyteller 148, with an excellent memory

The Centenarians a comprehensive study found that the lifestyles in all three regions were similar in four ways… diet was moderate work continued throughout life family and community were important exercise and relaxation were part of daily routine

The Centenarians The Truth About Life After 100 moderate diet, hard work, an optimistic attitude, intellectual curiosity, social involvement few calories, more respect, lots of vegetables, strong religious faith no one is disease-free, tend to minimize whatever problems they have, are upbeat about their health, attitude may be one reason they lived so long