The Personal Context of Later Life: Physical, Cognitive, and Mental Health Issues

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The number of older adults is growing rapidly, especially the number of people over age

Life expectancy

has increased dramatically in this century, and this is due mainly to improvements in health care.

Useful and Maximum life expectancy

2 types of life expectancy

Useful life expectancy

refers to the number of years that a person is free from debilitating disease.

Maximum life expectancy

is the longest time any human can live.

Genetic and Environmental factors

What factors influence Older Adults

Genetic factors

familial longevity and a family history of certain diseases.

Environmental factors

acquired diseases, toxins, pollutants, and lifestyle.

Women

have a longer average life expectancy at birth than men.

.Living, Cellular, Programmed cell-death theories

three main groups of theories of biological aging

Living theories

propose that organisms have only so much energy to last a lifetime

Cellular theories

proposed that the limited number of times a cell can divide, length of telomeres, cross-linking processes that create stiffer tissue and the accumulation of free radicals cause aging.

Programmed cell-death theories

propose that there aging, via cell death, is genetically programmed.

Neurofibrillary tangles, dendritic changes, and neuritic plaques.

Three important structural changes in the neurons

Strictly age

related changes in the respiratory system are hard to identify because of the lifetime effects of pollution

Presbycusis

Changes in hearing mainly involve

Diabetes mellitus

is a significant problem for many older adults.

Cancer

risk increases sharply with age.

Psychomotor speed

Older adults ____ is slower than younger adults.

Semantic and implicit memory

are both largely unaffected by aging

Creative

output peaks in late young adulthood or early middle age and declines thereafter, but the point of peak activity varies across disciplines and occupations.

Wisdom

has more to do with being an expert in living than with age.

personal attributes, specific expertise and facilitative life contexts.

Three factors that help people become wise are

Persistent sadness

Key symptom of depression is

imbalances in neurotransmitters and psychosocial forces

Major causes of depression include

Behavioral or cognitive therapy

Depression can be treated and through psychotherapy such as

Dementia

is a family of diseases that causes severe cognitive impairment.

memory impairment, personality changes, and behavioral changes.

Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include

Parkinson’s disease

usually marked by tremors and difficulty walking, but in many cases, it also develops into a form of dementia

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

is of growing concern of individuals who experience repeated head trauma