Have you ever wondered what will happen to you when you grow old, How your body will function when the grey hair begins to show, what becomes of you when your bones begin to brittle?
Here are some interesting facts about old age.
§ Only 3.6% of people over 65 years old are in nursing homes.
§ Elderly men are likely to live with a spouse while elderly women are more likely to live alone.
§ 4 in 5 older adults will battle at least one chronic condition or illness such as heart disorders, arthritis, or osteoporosis. 50% will battle at least two.
§ By age 75, about 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 women don't get ANY physical activity. One of the reasons is that older drivers tend to limit their driving during bad weather and at night.
§ The ratio of women to men over 65 years old is 100 to 76. The ratio of women to men over 85 years old is 100 to 49.
§ According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global population of people aged 60 and older will surge from 605 million to two billion between 2000 and 2050.
§ 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women over the age of 60 will begin to snore when sleeping, due to breathing difficulties.
§ Worldwide, elderly people are at risk for maltreatment. Approximately four to six percent of older persons in high-income countries have experienced some form of abuse – physical, financial or emotional – at home or in old-age homes.
§ At birth, we are generally born with 350 bones in our skeleton, as we grow and age, bones fuse together resulting in us only having 206 bones as adults.
§ We shed on average 600,000 particles of skin every hour. As we age, that accumulates to to approximately 1.5 pounds each year. The average person will therefore have lost around 105 pounds of skin by 70 years of age.
§ As we age our breathing rate slows down.
§ Since 1960, life expectancy has increased by three and a half years.
§ Your creative capacity doesn’t shrivel away in the slightest.
§ Studies show that as you age, your body sweats less.
§ Study shows that exercise in combination with computer use can prevent memory loss.
§ The risk of dementia rises sharply with age with an estimated 25-30% of people aged 85 orolder having some degree of cognitive decline. Older people with dementia in low- and middle-income countries generally do not have access to the affordable long-term care their condition may warrant. Often their families do not have publicly funded support to help with care at home.
§ Cells in all adults are very slowly shrinking; and in the older adult, reproducing less frequently, and becoming less agile? The biology of aging, in a nutshell, says: Everything is shrinking! That’s why concentrated forms of almost anything: all types of sugars and carbohydrates like alcoholic drinks; medications; vitamins; pain pills; even fruit juice, tea and coffee…affect older adults more rapidly and harshly. That’s why older adults need less carb calories and more proteins and vegetables.
§ Older women may have sex less often than when they were younger, but apparently they make it count. In a study of women 40 and over, researchers found that sexual satisfaction improved with age. Women over 80 were more likely than those between 55 and 79 to say they were satisfied during sex.
§ As you age, medications, illness (colds, flu, gum diseases, etc.) and allergies all can change your sense of smell and taste. And that can affect your diet and health. If you find things need to be spiced up, try some olive oil, herbs like rosemary and thyme, garlic, onion, peppers, or mustard. Just stay away from the salt.
§ Around the time the hair on your head starts to disappear, it can show up in the strangest places. This can mean large hairs in older guys' noses and ears. Older women may notice small hairs on their chins. This is all caused by changes in our hormones.
§ There’s a good chance you’ll become the morning person you’ve always wanted to be -- in your 60s. Our sleeping patterns can shift as we age, so we get sleepier earlier and wake up earlier. That seems to work out well. One study showed that even though folks over 65 tend to wake up during the night, most said they regularly get a good night’s sleep.
§ Once you hit your 70s, those migraines you may have had much of your life may go away. Only 10% of women and 5% of men over 70 still report migraines. Even better news: If you do have a migraine, it may not actually come with the headache. As people age, some may experience migraines as visual or sensory disturbances without pain.
§ Early retirement might not be the best thing for your health -- unless you have a fun second career. A study called the Longevity Project found that people who work hard at a job they enjoy live the longest. That, along with good friends and a good marriage, could be the key to sticking around a while.
§ The longer you’re alive, the more gravity brings you down. The spaces between the bones in your spine -- called vertebrae -- get closer together. That can make you about an inch shorter as you get older.
Whether old or OLD...The functional capacity of an individual's biological system increases during the first years of life, reaches its peak in early adulthood and naturally declines thereafter. The rate of decline is determined, at least in part, by our lifestyle and environment throughout life. Factors include what we eat, how physically active we are and our exposure to health risks such as those caused by smoking, harmful consumption of alcohol, or exposure to toxic substances.
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