Kathleen Stassen Berger

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Part VIII

Late Adulthood: Biosocial Development

Chapter Twenty-Three

Prejudice and Predictions

Senescence

Theories of Aging

The Centenarians

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Late Adulthood: Biosocial Development• the last phase of life

–65 until death–there are biosocial changes in the•senses, vital organs, morbidity, mortality

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Prejudice and Predications

• Ageism– a prejudice in which people are categorized and judged solely on the basis of their chronological age

• “Ageism is a social disease, much like racism and sexism” in that it relies on stereotypes, creating “needless fear, waste, illness, and misery (Palmore, 2005).”

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Prejudice and Predications

• Gerontology–the multidisciplinary study of old age

–geriatrics•the medical specialty devoted to aging

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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

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Prejudice and Predications• Graphing the Change

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Prejudice and Predications• Young, Old and Oldest

– 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• older adults (generally, those over age 85) who are dependent on others for almost everything, requiring supportive services such as nursing homes and hospital stays

– oldest-old

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Senescence• Aging and Disease

– primary 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

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Senescence• High Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Disease– the leading cause of death for both men and women is cardiovascular disease•a disease that involves the heart (cardio) and the circulatory system (vascular)

– high blood pressure (hypertension) •is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, cognitive impairment, and many other aliments of late adulthood

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Senescence• Selective Optimization with CompensationBoth depend on how well people respond…

– primary aging is increasingly stressful as aging continues

– secondary aging undermines well-being

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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

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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

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Senescence– The Brain

• primary aging causes one cognitive change in everyone—the elderly process information 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 (compensation), while young adults use more targeted areas of the brain

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Senescence– Physical Appearance

• 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

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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•touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing

–technology can modify many of these losses

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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

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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

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Theories of Aging• How Long is a Normal Life?

– maximum life span•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

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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

–Leonard Hayflick

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Theories of Aging– Errors in Duplication

•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

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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

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Theories of Aging• Replication No More

…cellular aging limits the life span… – telomeres

• the ends of chromosomes in the cells, whose length decrease with each cell duplication and seems to correlate with longevity

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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, many have achieved a compression of morbidity, tend to minimize whatever problems they have, are upbeat about their health,

– attitude may be one reason they lived so long