Ageing is the natural process of getting old, which happens to all humans regardless of their gender, race, or creed. As stated by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), Aging is the reflection of people’s lives and represents the changes that transpired over the course of someone’s life. As we grow, our body changes and as we reach maturity, our body and or mind starts changing. It is imperative to clarify that aging is not a disease, but just a normal transformation of our species. Our body has a natural biological aging process which involves loss capacity, vulnerability to diseases, and eventually death. It is apparent that we are far from understanding the real reason why aging has such a strong correlation with the decline of physical and mental health. “Gerontologists look for what distinguishes normal aging from disease, as well as explore why older adults are increasingly vulnerable to disease and disability.” (NIA, 2011). To clarify some of the unanswered questions, few scientists have created a method to find pathways located in the human body to trace the path that leads to aging.
Possible Pathways Leading to aging (illustration below)
If a person gets sick, become stressed, or their food intake is unhealthy, the body immediately receives and send signals via a biological pathway which helps for studying the long-term cause and effect. Also, scientists studied old cells and compared with the new cells to try to understand such complicated processes. Senescence is a normal process which is influenced by many factors such as fate - the result of an internal necessity and by chance – the result of external events (Sasser, Moody, 2015) but we don’t know yet if we can change the course of aging and whether we can intercede to accurate the damage to our aging body. From all the approaches to help to age the environmental and genetic approach aligns with the belief in healthy eating, reducing calories intake, hence, slowing the body metabolism and reducing the risk for illness. This approach affirms that people’s length of life results from environmental factors, and genetic. There isn’t any consensus among scholars on how to increase lifespan for humans; consequently, more research needs to be done on the compression or prolongation morbidity and such important topics will become a researchers’ priority in the future.
A previous Longitudinal research conducted by the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) found that everyone is different when it comes to health and cognitive intelligence at an older age. People who when they were young tended to be more active and possess sweet and gentle personalities most likely will remain with the same kind of attitude and may be healthier when aging than those who were inactive and cranky. Nonetheless, cellular aging will eventually impact all the main organs and the mind; it will make the person susceptible to illness and diseases. No-one can escape aging and it is up to the individual to make the transition more tranquil and an unforgettable learning experience. Most scientists agree that more research is needed to determine the actual cause of aging. “It has been difficult to provide a suitable evolutionary explanation for aging since natural selection, the driver of evolution, generally chooses animal traits that enhance fitness. Clearly, aging would not qualify as a fitness-promoting process. To get around this conundrum, scientists have postulated that the strength of natural selection declines with age and as a result, random genetic and tissue damage accumulate.” (Singer, 2015) It is not a selective process, but a natural outcome of cellular deterioration and the diminishment of mental capacity. Although aging is inevitable, people can guide their mind and their body to a more satisfactory old age by starting at an early age to take care their mind and their body. Furthermore, there is an apparent difference in the aging process among humans that is determined and influenced by culture, social class, socio-economic status, life course, time, beliefs, life events, etc. As stated by the class material, human’s life expectancy has increased, but the maximum lifespan of the human species continues to be around 120 years and so far, no other concrete evidence shows otherwise. Nevertheless, there is an important theory (Compression of Morbidity theory) which encourage people at their old age to live a healthy and fulfilled life which will focus on enhancing one’s life quality, health span, and help expand life expectancy. Moreover, having a healthy and happy life when aging helps to reduce stress, improves health, and decreases cost and caregiver burden. Nobody wants to think about the possibility and the natural process of getting old, but aging is inevitable and the process can be detrimental or a pleasant path to new experiences full of wisdom and love.
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Citation:
Editorial. (2012). Health & Aging. Retrieved January 29, 2017, from
https://www.blsa.nih.gov/about
John L. Horn (2). (n.d.). The Theory of Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence in Relation to
Concepts of Cognitive Psychology and Aging in Adulthood. Retrieved January 24, 2017, from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4684-4178-9_14
Marvelous. (n.d.). The Difference Between Fluid Intelligence and Crystallized Intelligence.
Retrieved January 23, 2017, from http://examinedexistence.com/the-difference-between- fluid-intelligence-and-crystallized-intelligence/
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