physical effects of ageing

When a person ages their body goes through many changes, physical things such as the persons respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, muscular-skeletal, endocrine system and the persons skin are affected. An ageing person will also experience changes psychologically, things such as the risk of mental illness increases with age. And physically, for example decreased eyesight and hearing abilities.
Some of the physical effects of ageing in an individual can be loss of fat, due to the breakdown of their muscle mass, and decreased collagen, the amount of sweat glands in their body decrease, this makes it difficult for them to regulate their temperature as they are unable to perspire to cool themselves down. This can lead to issues such as, hypothermia, hyperthermia and an increased chance of heat stroke in the summer time. Ageing also affects the individual’s eyesight, their pupils shrink, this means their eyes are unable to take in lots of light, meaning their night and depth vision is decreased. The individuals lens will also become transparent as their iris fades, this can result in a condition called cataracts. “Cataracts are cloudy patches that develop in the lens of your eye and can cause blurred or misty vision. They are very common in older people” (NHS choices- age related cataracts, 2015) Ageing can increase the risk of the individual developing glaucoma, another eye disease. “Glaucoma is caused by a blockage in part of the eye. This prevents fluid draining out of the eye and increases pressure in the eye, called intraocular pressure” (NHS choices- Glaucoma, 2015). As an individual gets older, their hearing is also affected. This can be irreversible and it usually affects men more than women. The loss occurs in the higher range of sound, this means that they are unable to hear high pitched sounds as well as they used too. By 60 years old, most adults have trouble hearing above 4000Hz. Normal speech pitch is 500 to 2000Hz, so they are still able to hear this, unless they are near to being deaf.
Changes to the respiratory system in an ageing person include the person’s lungs becoming more rigid, the number and size of alveoli decreasing, a reduction in the person’s respiratory fluid. Bones become thinner and change shape. This changes the shape of the individual’s ribcage, as a result, their ribcage is less able to expand and contract during breathing. These changes can make it increasingly hard for the individual to breathe normally, it can also result in fatigue and them getting short of breath very quickly.
Due to age an individual’s cardiovascular system experiences some changes, by the age of 70 a person’s cardio output is reduced by over 70%. Some vessels become less elastic, this can result in hypertension in elderly people. The valves of the heart thicken and become stiffer, the number of pacemaker cells also decrease, and these changes might result in a slow heart rate. A slight increase of the heart is also common, the wall of the heart thickens so the amount of blood the heart can hold may decrease.
As an individual ages their brain and nervous system go through natural changes, their brain and spinal cord lose nerve cells and weight which is called atrophy. Nerve cells may begin to pass messages slower, due to the loss of cells in the brain. Breakdown of nerves affects their senses and they might have reduced or lost reflexes or sensation. Importantly, slowing of thought, memory, and thinking is a normal part of aging. In addition, the hypothalamus in elderly individuals is less effective in regulating body temperature and after age 60, individuals 1% of neurons each year.
Older individual’s muscular- skeletal system experiences changes, for example; as people age, the individuals bone density begins to decrease, making bones thinner and fragile. This makes them more vulnerable to damage, especially as older people are prone to falling over and accidents, this could be dangerous. This can be a result of their bones losing calcium and other minerals. Because of these weak bones, the individual could develop a curvature of the spine and their height may decrease from narrow vertebral spaces. This can decrease their mobility and make it hard for them to move around and stay active. As a result of this joints can become stiff and rigid.
An individual’s endocrine is also effected, as they age the ability for them to tolerate stress declines, this can lead to a build-up of cortisol in the body. This can interfere with the individuals learning, memory and it can also lower their immune system function. This increases the individual’s risk of depression and mental illness. In older women, their oestrogen levels can decrease, this can be due to the menopause. This is where a woman's ovaries stop producing an egg every four weeks. She no longer has monthly periods and is unlikely to get pregnant. The average age for a woman to experience the menopause in the UK is 51, although some women experience it younger. “The menopause is caused by a change in the balance of the body's sex hormones. In the lead-up to the menopause, known as the perimenopause, oestrogen levels decrease, causing the ovaries to stop producing an egg each month (ovulation). Oestrogen is the female sex hormone that regulates a woman's periods” (NHS choices- menopause, 2015). Some symptoms of the menopause include; hot flushes, mood swings, night sweats and vaginal dryness.

As an individual ages their skin begins to sag, this is because it loses its elastic tissue, causing it to become slack. Their skin also becomes more transparent this is because the service layer of the skin called the epidermis thins. Older people also bruise more easily, due to their blood vessel walls becoming thinner. Elderly person’s immune system function naturally declines with age, this means that they become much more susceptible to illness, even a common could end up being very damaging to their health. Their anti-body response also weakens, meaning that the body is unable to fight off any infection that enters the body, resulting in the individual becoming ill quicker and for a longer period of time. Elderly people often suffer with a B12 deficiency, this is because as we get older our B12 absorption decreases. This can result in anaemia and cognitive decline.
An individual’s renal system is affected by age after 40 by their renal function decreasing. By the age of 9, they will lose up to 60% function overall. As a result of this their filtration and absorption is reduced, this is how older people develop B12 deficiencies. Their bladder muscles also weaken, this means that they could be unable to control when they go to the toilet, or they could suffer from complete incontinence. They are less able to clear drugs from their system, this means that medication is not excreted from their body as quickly and if they unknowingly continue to take medication, it could make them ill.
As men and women age, their reproductive systems are extremely effected and weakened. For men, their testosterone levels are decreased, their testes also shrink and soften. They also experience a decrease in sperm production, although they can continue to reproduce up until they die, whereas women are unable to do so after they go through the menopause. When they get erections, they can take more time to go down and the refractory period after ejaculation could potentially lengthen, this means that they might not be able to get another erection for a few days. For women, their oestrogen and progesterone levels decrease dramatically after the menopause and their ovulation ceases, meaning they are unable to produce eggs or get pregnant. The ladies vagina will also constrict and lose its elasticity, and become drier and shorter which can be very uncomfortable and itchy for them. Their breasts will also sag and lose their elasticity.