What are the signs of ageing?
Here is how the ageing process affects different parts of our body:
| Hair | Both male and female experience hair loss due to lack of hair regeneration cells. |
| Ears | Men usually encounter problems with hearing impairment much earlier and more severely than women |
| Skin | Dry and loose skin , wrinkles, brown spots |
| Brain | Slower cognitive function, loss of long—term and short-term memory, lack of attention in response to slower brain cells regeneration rate |
| Nose / Tongue | Less sensitive or loss in ability to smell and taste. |
| Eyes | Dysfunctional pupillary light reflex, eye muscles having difficulty focusing objects at close distances due to the thickening of the cornea (presbyopia), blur vision, night blindness. |
| Artery | Increased cholesterol deposition due to slower lipid metabolism rate in relation to ageing leads to reduced resistance, thickening and narrowing of arterial walls. These factors being the main risk factor for hypertension (increased blood pressure) causes increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure etc. by three folds. |
| Heart | Our hearts’ force of contraction and elasticity decreases with age. Subsequently causes ventricular dilatation which allows more blood to pass through the cardiac valves during each heartbeat. |
| Lungs | Between the age of 20-80 years old, our lung capacity decreases by 40% due to narrowing of airways and the normal breathing process becomes more difficult with increasing age. As the pleura weakens, coughing increases in response to increased hypersensitivity and excessive mucus secretion. |
| Metabolism & Excretion | As we age, the rate of drug metabolism and excretion rate decreases due to lowered / impaired hepatic and renal function. Consequently, makes us to be more prone to side effects or adverse drug reactions. Slower glucose metabolism in our body, in conjunction with increased glucose tolerance or resistance, is one of the main causative factor of increased blood glucose level and to diabetes. |
| Hormones | Female body produces less estrogen and progesterone with increasing age, leading to decreased bone strength and increased cardiovascular risks. After the age of 30, gradual reduction in the androgenic hormones in the male body causes decreased sexual excitement that may possibly lead to sexual dysfunction. |
| Muscles | Muscle mass of a normal human body decreases by 5-10% every 10 years. The grip strength of a 75 year-old is equivalent to only three quarters that of a 30-year-old. |
| Bones | Bone cells deplete more rapidly with age, especially in women after menopause due to reduced oestrogen level that are involve in reducing the rate of bone resorption. Due to the critical loss of bone mass (osteopenia), reduced bone mineral density and bone formation rate, older women are highly prone to osteoporosis and risks of bone fractures. |
| Joints | Joint abrasion results in inflammation, joints stiffness, especially in the morning and difficulty in movement. |
