Late Adulthood:

1
Chapter 23

• Late Adulthood
• Biosocial Development

2
Ageism

• Ageisma term that refers to prejudice against
  older people because of their age
• Why is ageism so strong?
• cultural emphasis on growth, strength, and
  progress
• veneration of youth
• increasing age segregation

3
Gerontology

• Gerontologystudy of old age
• GeriatricsThe medical specialty devoted to old
  age
• Two Different Perspectives
• doctors in geriatrics view aging as an illness
• gerontologists view aging as socially constructed
  problem

4
Gerontology, cont.

• Contrary to popular belief, many
  developmentalists now view aging, like all other
  periods, as marked by gains as well as losses

5
Demography

• A reason ageism is decreasing is that there are
  more aging individuals
• 7 percent of worlds population now over 65 years
• 13 percent in developed nations such as United
  States

6
Demography, cont.

• Changing shape of demographic pyramid
• the population stack has shifted from a pyramid
  to a square
• reflects changes in recent decadesfewer births
  and increased survival
• By 2030 the proportion of those over 65 is
  projected to double worldwideto 15 percent

7
Dependents and Independence

• Dependency ratioratio of self-sufficient,
  productive adults (those between ages 15 and 65)
  to dependentschildren and the elderly
• the greater the number of dependents compared to
  workers, the higher the dependency ratio

8
Dependents and Independence, cont.

• What are some of the problems cultures may face
  as baby boomers age?
• crisis in geriatric medicine
• Medicare, Social Security, and quality private
  health insurance in jeopardy?
• entire tax and caregiving burden may fall on
  shrinking middle cohort

9
Young, Old, and Oldest

• Distinctions based on age, health, and social
  well-being
• young-oldhealthy and vigorous, financially
  secure, active in family and community life
• old-oldhave major physical, mental or social
  loses, but still have some strengths
• oldest-olddependent on others for almost
  everything

10
Young, Old, and Oldest, cont.

• Some gerontologists like the following terms
  better
• optimal aging
• usual aging
• impaired aging

11
Anti-Aging Measures

• Aging has many causes
• wear and tear
• cellular accidents
• declining immune system
• programmed senescence

12
Calorie Restriction

• Mammals can almost double their life span if they
  eat half as much food throughout adulthood
• proven for mice and rats probably true for
  monkeys, chimps, and dogs
• true for humansprobably but must be carefully
  done
• Pack more nutrients into fewer calories

13
Calorie Restriction, cont.

• Older people take drugs that are considered
  harmless, but do affect nutritional requirements
• Mammals with reduced calorie intake are stronger,
  more vital, and younger in their appearance as
  long as they consume adequate vitamins and
  minerals

14
The Skin and Hair

• Wrinkles, hair becomes grayer and thinner

15
Body Shape and Muscles

• Alteration in overall body height, shape, and
  weight
• With weight loss may come muscle loss
• reduces flexibility
• Self-perception can lead to a feeling of
  fragility and a fear of falling

16
Dulling of the Senses

• Vision
• Only about 10 percent of elderly see well
• Cataractsshrinking of lens, causing vision to be
  cloudy, opaque, and distorted.
• Hearing
• Presbycusisage-related hearing loss
• 40 over 65 experience it
• Tinnitisbuzzing or ringing. Experienced by 10
  of elderly.

17
Theories of Aging

• Wear and Tear
• The genetic theory

18
Wear and Tear Theory

• Compares body to machine
• Body wears down because of accumulated exposure
  to inadequate nutrition, disease, pollution, and
  other stresses
• Wear out our bodies by living our lives

19
Genetic Aging

• What makes entire body age?
• focus on whole body rather than individual parts
• Some theorists propose that aging is the normal,
  natural result of the genetic plan for the species

20
Life Expectancy

• Genetic programming to reach biological
  maturation at fixed times and genetically
  programmed to die after a fixed number of years
• Maximums and Averages
• maximum life span (humans 115)
• average life expectancy
• affected by culture, historical and socioeconomic
  factors

21
Cellular Aging

• Cellular Accidents
• accumulation of minor accidents that occur during
  cell reproduction cause aging
• mutations occur in process of DNA repair
• instructions for creating new cells become
  imperfect
• cellular imperfections and declining ability to
  detect and correct them can lead to harmless
  changes, small functional loss, or fatal damage

22
Free Radicals

• Some of bodys metabolic processes can cause
  electrons to separate from their atoms and can
  result in atoms with unpaired electronoxygen
  free radicals
• can produce errors in cell maintenance and
  repair, leading to cancer, diabetes, etc.
• Antioxidantscompounds that nullify the effects
  of oxygen free radicals by forming a bond with
  their unattached oxygen electron
• vitamins A, C, and E, mineral selenium

23
Errors in Duplication

• Hormonal changes triggered in brain that switch
  off the genes promoting growth
• The Hayflick Limit
• genetic clockaccording to one theory of aging, a
  regulatory mechanism in the DNA of cells that
  regulates the aging process
• cells stop replicating at a certain point
• Evidence for genetic regulation from diseases
  producing premature aging

24
The Immune System

• Diminished immune system is weakened
• Two types of attack cells reduced in numbers
• B cells in bone marrow, which create antibodies
  that attack invading bacteria and viruses
• T cells, which produce substances that attack
  infection