Aging Population Research Paper

Aging is not a period where you get ill or wait for your death to come. Although it is true that aging brings a lot of vulnerabilities or cognitive changes, it is just a continuation of what we are going through our lives. However, the cognitive and functional changes are different from what people are used to, or expected to undergo; therefore, this may affect their psychological and physiological wellbeing. There is an increase in the aging population, thus, health policies should focus on the question of how to compress the negative effects of those changes, and what factors are driving them. Indeed, many recent studies have focused on this idea and some modifiable behaviors were identified that have shown to be effective in delaying cognitive
declines.
The eight research papers I read supported the idea that we have learned in class: Aging is a gradual process, and the last stage of life is a result of all the stages that come before it. In other words, what you engage or do early in life serves as a predictor of your cognition later in life. As I was doing my research, I have seen that adapting health life style behaviors from early on, exercising regularly and having a sense of control and social support are related to later cognitive function. I have concluded that people should hold tight onto their supportive relatives or friends, keep exercising weekly, reduce their smoking and alcohol consumption, and eat clean to prevent diseases, if they want to enjoy the last stage of their life without any major cognitive decline.
I have some proposals for future research. First of all, these studies focused on the frequency or function of a social relationship, but having a frequent relationship with anyone is not the same as having a deeper social relationship. Therefore, future research should examine the effect of the quality of the social relationships. They also focus on whether there is an effect of culture in terms of social networks, since the definition of social support can show differences according to the culture. Secondly, the studies mainly assessed the frequency of exercise. However, they can also consider the intensity and efficiency to reveal a dose-versus-threshold response. Additionally, further research should have a more representative sample of the general population, since these studies all had a biased group of people (either in terms of ethnicity or gender). And lastly, it would be very beneficial for health interventions to study the underlying mechanisms of these associations.