Lecture 9 Flashcards
What are the two types of ageing processes?
What are the four types of ageing?
Distal ageing effects - childhood events that affect your health when older.
Proximal ageing effects - recent events affecting your health.
Universal - features of ageing like grey hair.
Probabilistic - features of ageing that are common but not universal like arthritis.
Primary - changes that can be prevented
Secondary - ageing affected by lifestyle, disease and trauma
Tertiary - rapid decline directly before death
Age can be described in two different formats, describe both.
Also, what is considered as old?
Chronological age; a measure of actual age - this can be subject to cultural variation
Social age; how society believes you should act at certain ages
Gerontologists claim that 65 years is considered old.
What are the 4 ages of old?
Young old - 60-69 Middle aged old - 70-79 Old old - 80-89 Very old old - 90+ The main transition is between having an independent active lifestyle to becoming dependent on others.
Discuss the biological viewpoint of ageing
Ageing occurs via physical degeneration. Every 7 years, body cells are replaced and the programmed theory of ageing states that the amount of cycles is pre-programmed. Additionally, the Hayflick phenomenon argues that less cells are replaced as one ages due to the shortening of telomeres (part of DNA) each time mitosis occurs which eventually results in cell division becoming impossible for that cell. Also, cells might not be replaced because of faults in the immune system or toxins in the body. The loss of cells begins at age 30 but this isn’t noticeable until about age 50 unless disease speeds up the process. It becomes noticeable when skin becomes less elastic, the urinary system becomes slower and is less efficient at excreting toxins and the gastrointestinal system becomes less efficient at extracting nutrients. This can result in inefficient neural functioning and malnutrition due to loss of appetite.
Furthermore, the respiratory system takes in less oxygen resulting in less energy for brain function (reduced reaction times) and falling asleep after meals due to all the energy being spent on digestion. The cardiovascular system is affected as the heart’s strength reduces and arteries harden and shrink, increasing blood pressure. However, these problems can be reduced by regular exercise. Also, our senses reduce in function and bones can become brittle but this is also dependent on lifestyle (calcium at young age reduces chances of developing osteoporosis).
Decreased neural blood flow decreases brain weight by 10% and can result in mini strokes that go unnoticed, an inefficient blood-brain barrier and cell loss in areas linked to intellectual function.
Discuss increased life expectancy and its effects
Every decade life expectancy increases by about 2 years. This can result in financial issues for the country, for example 65% of benefit expenditure is spent on the elderly. However, it is important to note that they have been paying a pension all of their life. The spending for retired households is double that of normal households. The cost spent on treating people in hospitals over age 85 is 3 times higher than people aged 65.
Discuss successful ageing
This changes depending on the person. Healthcare professionals argue that successful ageing involves optimising life expectancy with minimal implications of disability and illness. The social argument is that it depends on life satisfaction, being socially active and having a positive outlook. From the viewpoint of the elderly, ageing is successful when one still has a purpose in life.
Successful ageing involves adapting and coping with the loss of a loved one, retirement, failing health and mortality.
Describe Moos’ coping process model of ageing
The coping process involves three stages. Stage 1: Cognitive appraisal (understanding the severity and significance of ageing), Stage 2: Adaptive tasks (illness related tasks; learning to deal with pain and the hospital environment. General tasks; sustaining relationships and a satisfactory self image. There are 7 tasks in total), Stage 3: Coping skills (three types; appraisal focused - mental preparation. Problem focused - seeking information and support. Emotion focused - emotional discharge and acceptance).
What is Dementia?
The gradual loss of cognitive function, resulting in motor, emotional and social problems. It’s permanent and progressive. It begins with forgetfulness that can result in disorientation; issues with problem solving and decision making and personality changes like irritability and depression. Dementia is a term that describes the symptoms and can take many forms; Alzheimer’s, Korsakoff’s syndrome, Fronto-temporal dementia etc. About 50% of people over 80 develop Alzheimer’s, which is the most common type of dementia (Alzheimer’s causes 70% of dementia cases).
Discuss coping with dementia
The coping process involves those who have dementia but also the carers as well. Moos’ coping process model can be applied to dementia. People have issues with conflict and control, acceptance and emotional regulation - they often feel angry and resentful. Focusing on fixing these are the best methods of coping.
Carers and sufferers both experience denial, minimalisation, fighting back and compensating (making excuses for their forgetfulness).
Discuss Julie Udell’s study about a falls reduction toolkit for people with dementia
People with dementia are 3 times more likely to fall over due to their cognitive decline which affects many functions such as stride length, tremors and executive functioning. 25% of people in care have some form of dementia, even though hospital environments have detrimental effects. Therefore, it is important to adjust this environment to help the sufferers, for example reducing chances of falls. The study just involved an observations and interviews so it was ethical. The results found that the environment caused a third of the falls and there were environmental improvements in almost all of the fall locations. To reduce these falls, simple changes could be made involving non-reflective flooring, appropriate lighting and locking doors.
Discuss Finkel’s study
They found that one’s response to oxidative stress (an imbalance between the amount of reactive oxygen species (chemically reactive compounds containing oxygen such as hydrogen peroxide) and the ability for the body to detoxify ROS can predict longevity. For example, as one ages, oxidative damage increases due to more oxidative stress.
Discuss Ndifon’s study
They found evidence that applied the Hayflick phenomenon to T cells, explaining the decline of the immune system as one ages. The diversity of T cells decreases with age because of replicative senescence meaning that the body becomes less able to tackle illness. This explains how our bodies may follow the idea of the programmed theory of ageing and the effects that it can have on our health.
Discuss Correia’s study
A lot of research is being done about ageing and longevity. People are constantly finding ways to decrease the decline of our health such as doing more exercise (link to exercise lecture) or eating more healthy (link to food lecture). However, Correia found that air pollution can significantly affect the biological decline of ageing. They found that a reduction of 10 micrograms per cubic metre in the concentration of particulate matter (air pollution) can increase life expectancy by 0.35 years. This is such a small amount but can still increase life expectancy by a third of a year, showing the significant effects our lifestyle can have on ageing.
Discuss Lee’s study
They found that a lack of exercise causes premature mortality in 9% of cases, this is over 5 million deaths due to a lack of exercise. This significantly shows how exercise can reduce our decline of cardiovascular and respiratory function.
Discuss Tschanz’s study
They found that the decline of someone with dementia is significantly dependent on the carers. Increasing problem focused attitudes and the counting of blessings of carers reduced the decline of the patients. Additionally, seeking social support and having wishful thinking resulted in slower worsening of dementia. Therefore, it is essential to improve care givers coping mechanisms in order to help both them and the patient.
