Psych 41 (Chapter 20)Pdf

Kathleen Stassen Berger

Prepared by Madeleine Lacefield

Tattoon, M.A.

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Part VII

Adulthood: Biosocial Development

Chapter Twenty

The Aging Process

The Impact of Poor Health Habits

Measuring Health

Variations in Aging

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Adulthood: Biosocial Development

Age matters…

How old are you? Do you feel

your age?

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The Aging Process

• Senescence

– a gradual physical decline related to

aging… happens to everyone in every

body part but the rate of decline is highly

variable

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The Aging Process• Physical Appearance

– outward signs of senescence are present long before old age arrives• first visual in the skin

– collagen – the connective tissue of the body, decreases by about 1% per year

• hair turns gray and get thinner

• skin becomes drier

• ―middle-age spread‖

• people get shorter

• muscles weaken

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The Aging Process

• Sense Organs

– senescence varies from organ to organ

• the five senses become less

sharp…each organ loses some functions

faster than others

– changes in eyesight is the most obvious

– losses occur in hearing

» presbycusis

» the loss of hearing associated with senescence

often does not become apparent until after age 60

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The Aging Process

• The Aging Brain

– the brain slows down with age

– neurons fire more slowly and messages

sent from the axon of one neuron are

not picked up as quickly by the

dendrites of another neuron

– multitasking is more difficult

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The Aging Process

• The Sexual-Reproductive System

– is slower and fertility is reduced with

age, but adults of all ages enjoy ―very

high levels of emotional satisfaction and

physical pleasure from sex within their

relationships‖

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The Aging Process

• Infertility

– 2% of healthy couples in their earlier 20s, in

medically advanced nation, are infertile

– 33% of 30 year-olds in poor nations are

infertile

– the highest rate of infertility occurs in countries

with the highest birth rates, due in part to the

lack of contraception and the high incident of

untreated sexually transmitted diseases

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The Aging Process

• Assisted Reproduction– assisted reproductive technology (ART)

• the collective name for the various methods of medical intervention that can help infertile couples have children

– in vitro fertilization (IVF)• a technique in which ova (egg cells) are

surgically removed from a woman and fertilized with sperm in the laboratory… after the original fertilized cells (the zygotes) have divided several times, they are reinserted into a woman's uterus.

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The Aging Process

• Menopause

– the time in middle age, usually around age 50, when a woman’s menstrual periods cease completely and the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drops considerably

– strictly speaking, menopause is dated one year after a women’s last menstrual period

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The Aging Process

• Menopause

– hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

• treatment to compensate for hormone

reduction at menopause following

surgical removal of the ovaries… such

treatment, which usually involves

estrogen and progesterone, minimizes

menopausal symptoms and diminishes

the risk if osteoporosis in later adulthood

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The Aging Process

• Menopause

– andropause

• a term coined to signify a drop in

testosterone levels in older men, which

normally results in reduced sexual

desire, erections, and muscle mass

• also know as male menopause

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―Almost all diseases and chronic

conditions that are normally

associated with aging (arthritis to

strokes) are powerfully affected by

the routines of daily life‖.

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• Tobacco and Alcohol Use

– tobacco

• in all its forms contains harmful drugs

• nicotine is the most addictive

• fewer people are starting to smoke

• many quit by late adulthood

• death from lung cancer is down by 20% from 1980 - 1995

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The Impact of Poor Health Habits• Tobacco and Alcohol Use

– alcohol

• adults who drink wine, beer, spirits, or other alcohol in moderation (no more than two moderate-sized drinks a day) live longer than those who never drink

• moderate drinking is a reduction in coronary heart disease

• alcohol increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the" good‖ cholesterol and reduces low-density lipoprotein, the ―bad‖ cholesterol that causes clogged arteries and blood clots

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• Lack of Exercise

– adults exercise less as they age

– low exercise rates are blamed…

• lack of commitment

• lack of support in the immediate social context

• community’s failure to provide appropriate facilities

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• Lack of Exercise

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• Overeating

– too much eating combined with too little

activity

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• Resistance to Good Nutrition

– misinterpreting scientific research

– high-fat diets

– heavy drinking and smoking

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• Obesity

– the leading cause of premature adult

death

– a worldwide epidemic, followed by

diabetes

– U.S. the global leader in obesity and

diabetes

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• Obesity

– in late adulthood, few people are obese

• thinner ones are more likely to survive

• older people eat less

• the current cohort have always been thinner

• older people are more protective of their health

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• Obesity

– additional reasons…

• genes - regulating hunger, metabolism, and fat accumulation

• parental attitudes and practices -children are taught to overeat

• environment – modern cultures encourage overeating

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• Obesity

– weight-loss drugs urge caution

• Phen-fen was found to increase the risk of heart disease

• commercial diet drugs are additive and ineffective over time

• other drugs upset the stomach

– surgery

• gastric bypass surgery which permanently alters the anatomy of the digestive system

• death can occur

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• Preventive Medicine

―The damage and death caused by tobacco, alcohol, and obesity make it obvious that prevention is less risky than treatment.‖

– much prevention involves choices people make

– preventive screening and medical measures are helpful

– social measures that protect against harm and help those who suffer from trauma

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Measuring Health

• Mortality and Morbidity

– mortality

• death—as a measure of health, mortality

usually refers to the number of deaths each

year per 1,000 members of a given population

– morbidity

• disease—as a measure of health, morbidity

refers to the rate of disease of all kinds in a

given population—physical and emotional,

acute (sudden) and chronic (ongoing)

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Measuring Health

• Disability and Vitality

– disability

• long-term difficulty in performing normal activities of daily life because of some physical, mental, or emotional condition

– vitality

• a measure of health that refers to how healthy and energetic—physically, intellectually, and socially—an individual actually feels

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Measuring Health


– quality-adjusted life years QALYs

• a way of comparing mere survival

without vitality to survival with good

health—QALYs indicate how many years

of full vitality are lost to a particular

physical disease or disability—they are

expressed in terms of life expectancy as

adjusted for quality of life

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Measuring Health


– disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)

• a measure of the impact that disability

has on quality of life—DALYs are the

reciprocal of quality-adjusted life years—

a reduction of QALYs means an increase

in DALYs

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Variations in Aging

rates of aging vary, but they are not random…– gender

– genes

– ethnicity

– income

– education

– location

– lifestyle

– culture

…speed up some aspects of senescence and slow down others

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Variations in Aging

• Gender Differences

– senescence affects women more than

men

• small, superficial signs of aging, changes

in skin, hair, weight, are of more concern

(to both sexes) to women

• women age slowly, females live longer

worldwide

– twice as many in the U.S. by age 85

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Variations in Aging

• Socioeconomic Status (SES)

– well-educated, financially secure people

live longer, avoid chronic illness and

disability, and feel healthier than the

average person of their age, sex and

ethnicity

Psych 41 (Chapter 20)Pdf

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