Aging begins at
birth and continues your entire life (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). Life as we
know it is guaranteed to end (Hillier & Barrow, 2011).Chapter Four Physical
Health and Well-Being describes the aging process by discussing the aging body,
what normal aging looks like, and health status.
Through much
debate, it is said that humans can live up to 120 years (Hillier & Barrow,
2011). According to the text, tortoise can live up to 150 years and domestic
cat can live up to 30 years (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). This helped put
things in perspective. Humans definitely don’t have the least amount of years
on Earth but not the most potential years on Earth. In the text in Aging, the
individual, and society, it discusses longevity. “Longevity is a complex trait
influenced by genes, environment, and chance” (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). The
body reaches a certain level and stays constant or then begins to decline in
functioning or performing (Hillier & Barrow, 2011).
Normal signs of
functioning are hair slowly changing gray, skin sagging or becoming wrinkly,
and the body less erect (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). Also the body is not as
fast, it slows down and gains fat instead of muscle resulting in weight gain (Hillier
& Barrow, 2011). According to Aging, the Individual, and Society, as early
as 30’s and 40’s, most people develop presbyopia which is when the human eye
can no longer is fine print, for example, on a newspaper or difficult seeing at
close range (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). As the body grows old it also loses
calcium, joints become weak, immune system becomes weak and overall trouble
getting back to normal (Hillier & Barrow, 2011). Studies have shown that
now days as human grow older, people over 65 are living healthier (Hillier
& Barrow, 2011). This could be because of the advances in medicine and
technology.
Hillier, S.,
& Barrow, G. (2011). Aging, the individual, and society. (9th ed., pp.
3-28). California: WADSWORTH.
I agree with what you said. With the advances that we have in the world today, it is helping people live healthier and longer. And yes although the body may not be fast and may be changing physically, you can always be optimistic and live happier when you workout and start feeling better about your self and give yourself a better attitude about yourself. Ofcourse you're also right when it's chance, environment, and genes depends on our health as well but you can always do your best to try and prevent those. I know I am in line for hypertension and I also know that if I do not want it to become a major issue in my life I can do stuff right now to try and reduce stress and lower my blood pressure. Great post!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing when you compare the life spans of other species and the human race, as it pertains to health and aging. Animals really are very similar to humans when considering their anatomy especially, so why is it that they can live full, healthy, lives and often times, our potential as humans to grow old is often cut short? Simple, because we as humans begin to decline due to the way we treat our bodies over our lifetime. Animals and other species do not have the temptations and technology available to them to harm their health. Technology, sometimes can hinder our potential to live healthy lives, such as the recent boom in energy drinks and diet supplements that are actually harming our systems, however, as you said it is also largely to thank for our increasing lifespans. When our body reaches the level of maintaining a constant state of good health before declining is the most important period in life! If we are healthy as we enter this period of time, we are much more likely to remain in the constant state longer before declining than if we are unhealthy when we enter the prime of our lives. This proves that living a healthy life at a young age is important to our aging bodies. As we begin to decline, it is equally important to maintain a healthy lifestyle rather than accepting aging as the end, continuously practicing good health will only allow us to lengthen our life.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how long some animals can live including humans. With the advances in technology and science that we have today, humans can live longer. As we all know and as the book states, humans cannot live forever. But there are things that we can do to help improve our health and longevity. Our text book says we can reduce calories, eat better, not smoke and exercise more. There are products we can take to improve calcium intake such as calcium supplements or calcium enriched foods or drinks. Exercise can improve our joints and overall health. But as the book says, genes, environment and chance also influences our longevity. Our parents and grandparents play a part but the changes and lifestyle we choose plays a large part in our health. Walking extra steps in the day, cutting calories, getting exercise, having a positive attitude and being able to cope well with stress all will help in our well being.
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