When an adult reaches the age thirty, vision starts to
decline because the lens stiffens and thickens, and they can no longer see
things up close as well. Some of the organs begin to decrease in function as
well. When exercising, the respiratory volume decreases and the breathing rate
increases with age. The amount of air that can be forced in and out of the lungs
decreases up to fifty percent from the age of twenty to the age of fifty. For
reasons such as this, athletic performance peaks from the twenties to thirties
and then begins to decrease. The research the have done on incredible athletes
show us that the upper biological limit of motor capacity is reached by the
first part of early adulthood. The declines in heart and lungpower usually show
up only during exercise. From the ages of twenty to thirty, the elasticity of
the skin begins and continues, and weight gains begin and continue through
middle adulthood. Sexual activity increases during this time as well. Aging is
more extreme for those who lead less active lives. Also, the reproductive
capacity tends to decline with age. For women it begins to decline especially
after the age of thirty five, and for men it starts to decline after the age of
forty. From thirty to forty years of age, vision declines along with hearing and
the skeletal system. Women begin to experience problems with fertility, the hair
begins to turn gray and thin out, and sexual activity decreases. Middle
adulthood is the next age group where significant changes occur physically in
human beings. It is merely a continuation of the changes that begin in early
adulthood. This is the time when vision and hearing really decline a noticeable
amount. Humans in this age group lose ability to see as well in dim light, and
seem to always need a pair of bifocals. Hearing aids seem to start appearing a
little bit at this time in some people as well. Men’s hearing declines much
faster than women’s. I notice more old men that can’t hear than I do old women.
The epidermis becomes not as firm and results in wrinkling of the skin. Skin
spots become prevalent around the age of fifty. Crow’s feet are among the first
major wrinkles to appear. Massive sun exposure earlier in life tends to make the
skin’s wrinkling a faster process, and smoking seems to have a similar effect as
well. Muscle mass start to decline a lot in the forties as well, and at the same
time, fat is put on at a more rapid rate. Around this time, women begin to
experience menopause, which is the end to the reproductive capacity. There is no
male counterpart for menopause, but men do experience some decline in their
sperm count and semen.
The mineral capacity in the bones begins to decline, even
though the bones are broadening. The loss of bone mass and bone strength causes
height to decrease in some people. From the ages of fifty to sixty, the human
eye no longer has its accommodative ability at all. Hearing loss at this time
extends to all frequencies. It remains only for the highest tones. Skin of
course, keeps on getting wrinkles and age spots are more common. Menopause is
the major reproductive change that women undergo during this time. Height drops
because of lower bone mass, which continues to decline. Late adulthood seems to
be the time when everything declines physically. When I think about old people,
the two words that come to my mind are wrinkles and saggy. From the ages of
sixty to eighty, many things are deteriorating physically. Neurons begin dying
at rapid rates. Vision continues to decline, and people at this age have a
harder time distinguishing colors. Also, depth perception and sensitivity to
glare worsen. This age is the hearing aid age. Hearing continues to decline
throughout the frequency range. Sometimes sense of smell lessens as well. Loss
of touch in fingertips is common. The stress during exercise becomes greater
because of the continued decline in respiratory and lung functions. Risk of
illness is much greater in this late stage of life because the aged immune
system. This age group also tends to experience some difficulty in going to
sleep at night; this occurs in men more so than women. Hair obviously continues
to thin and gray and wrinkles become much worse and skin sags and is thinner.
Because of the fact that the body is losing lean muscle mass during this time,
height and weight continue to lessen. This leads to increased risk of
osteoporosis. Sex becomes not as intense. It seems like every part of the human
body lessons or worsens after a person reaches late adulthood. Once a human
reaches eighty or older, everything described previously just continues and gets
worse.
Mobility, however, goes away, and it gets harder to get around. This is
because of the diminishing muscle and bone strength. Wheel chairs and walkers
and canes are used as an aid in movement when mobility no longer exists. Death
comes after or even during this stage. There are three ways that death occurs
generally. The first way is the agonal phase. During this phase, gasps and
muscle spasms happen when the body can no longer sustain life. The second phase
is clinical death. This is when a short interval follows in which heartbeat,
circulation, breathing, and the brain functions all stop. Resuscitation is still
available at this stage. In the third stage of death, mortality, the person
actually passes into permanent death. Soon afterward, this dead person becomes
shriveled looking, and has thus undergone all of the physical development a
person goes through in a lifetime. Physical development is the only type of
development that one can actually witness. Ever person generally goes through
some form of the same development through each age group. The human body is very
unique and all of these changes that we experience are what makes us so
interesting.
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