Longevity

Aging

"Aging is a process, longevity is a measure" - Prof. Rando Accounts for all the different processes (physical, cognitive, social) that go along with different stages of life Universal among members of a species

Disengagement Theory

"Aging is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement, resulting in decreased interaction between the aging person and others in the social system he belongs to." Basically, as people get older they withdraw from society and, in turn, society turns its back on elderly people.

Childhood Mortality

100 years ago 25% of babies died before they turned 5 years old Mothers had many children because it was likely that some would not live beyond early childhood

Longitudinal studies

A correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time — often many decades. It is a type of observational study. Longitudinal studies are often used in psychology to study developmental trends across the lifespan. Longitudinal studies track the same people, and therefore the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations.

Longevity

A measure of life expectancy or lifespan Longevity is a measure, aging is a process We measure longevity with the lifespan curve (graph above) There are variations in longevity within species

Aged cells and tissues

Accumulation of protein aggregates, oxidative damage to proteins, lipids, DNA, Accumulation of mutations in DNA, Decreased efficiencies of cellular defense mechanisms Loss of brain mass, Loss of skin elasticity, loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia), loss of bone density, loss of elasticity in crystalline lens of eye

Positivity Effect

Age-related preference for positive information over negative information (with respect to both attention and recall) As people grow older, emotionally meaningful goals/goals related to the positive take priority

Cross-sectional studies

An observational study that involves collecting data from a population (or a representative subset) at one specific point in time. (As opposed to longitudinal studies which follow the same people over a long period of time.)

Threshold of disability

Anne Friedlander's talk -threshold is when you're VO2max is less than 18 ml/kg/min.

Age-related cognitive maintenance/growth

Areas of maintenance: Access to acquired knowledge Memory for emotional information (relatively) Mental health (relatively) Areas of growth: Expertise in specialized areas Stories told (more interesting and coherent) Abilities to solve problems of everyday life

Activities of daily living (ADLs)

Basic everyday tasks Examples: walking, eating, dressing oneself, bathing, toileting, locomotion Different from IADLs in the sense that ADLs are more basic

Theories of aging: Failure of maintenance

Damage to cells and tissue from harmful environmental factors (extrinsic) Free radicals (reactive chemical species) cause oxidative damage. antioxidants can prevent accumulation of free radicals

Osteoarthritis

Degenerative disease Cartilage breaks down with repetitive use (mechanical loading) Walking influences force distribution on the knee the way we hit the ground Treatments pain relief surgery, braces tissue replacement joint replacement OA is a complex and unsolved problem stimulus leads to intervention and response leads to disease modification

Age-related cognitive decline

Deterioration of the biological framework that underlies the ability to think and reason. Loss of myelin integrity, cortical thinning, impaired serotonin, and dopamine receptor binding and signaling.Cumulatively these changes give rise to a variety of symptoms associated with aging, such as forgetfulness, decreased ability to maintain focus, and decreased problem solving capability. If left unchecked, symptoms oftentimes progress into more serious conditions, such as dementia and depression, or even Alzheimer's disease.

Life expectancy/average life span

Determined as the age at which 50% of those born are still alive Today in the US average life expectancy is 76 Life expectancy stayed constant until about 2000 years ago, then doubled in 2000 years, then doubled again in 200 years

Maximum life span

Determined as the age of the longest lived members of the species Longest living person - Jeanne Calment (1875-1997, 122 years)

Caloric restriction

Diet in which you restrict calorie intake to low levels (not malnutrition) Found to have decelerated the biological aging process in animals tests No studies on human caloric restriction yet

Frailty

Geriatric syndrome characterized by elevated risk of catastrophic declines in health and function Common characteristics of frailty include: Difficulty managing ADLs Unintentional weight loss Gradual onset of fatigue/loss of energy production and utilization Other declines in physiologic reserves and resilience Recent falls/fear of falling Memory loss

Cognition

High level functions carried out by the human brain including: Thinking, reasoning, remembering Comprehension and use of speech, visual perception, calculation ability Attention, memory Executive functions (planning, problem solving, self-monitoring)

Hospice

Hospice: a place where you can go to live out the last days/weeks of your life in a supportive environment. Hospice/ palliative care started in 1970/80 England Hospice care is necessary because we have stretched out the process of dying with indeterminate illnesses such as dementia, cancer etc and the extension of life through medicine/machinery Most people do not have a plan in place to care for ailing relatives social death: when you stop being productive to society

Sedentary Behavior

Inactive, constantly sitting behavior exhibited in many elderly people Sedentariness leads to more rapid decrease in cognitive and physical function

Social Security

Issues 1. More people are living longer and being paid more benefits from the program than in the past. 2. economically unfeasible with current population decline (technology/productivity may not always be able to keep up with the rate). 3. if we drop the system right now, then those who have been paying in for years really lose out. Solutions 1. increase retirement age 2. encouraging private savings 3. increasing taxes 4. Removing the whole system 5. determining it based on the number of years left in life

Medicare

Issues 1. medicare is very expensive, as procedures are more advanced and complex 2. people are living longer and spend more time utilizing medicare Solutions 1. Raise taxes on medicare 2. Limit what medicare can cover 3. Have people under go evaluations 4. Check whether the procedure is effective

Compression of Morbidity

James Fries' hypothesis that the burden of lifetime illness may be compressed into a shorter period before the time of death, if the age of onset of the first chronic infirmity can be postponed.

Retirement

Man-made creation that stipulates a certain age in which someone stops working Age is 67, but can start receiving SS benefits as early as 62

Palliative Care

Medical care provided by physicians, nurses and social workers that specializes in the relief of the pain, symptoms and stress of serious illness It reduces suffering and is not just for people who are dying Mainly keeping people comfortable physically Symptoms are part of a disease, and if we know about the disease, we can expect the symptoms and handle them appropriately so that patients are in the least amount of pain

Population aging

Occurs when the median age of a country or region rises as a result of increased longevity, immigration, a decline in birthrates, disease/famine, natural disaster, etc. A population can age without any individuals living longer. There are more older people than younger people.

Social Environment

Our social circles, connections, and environments affects how and how healthily we age. Participation in health behaviors can be influenced by friends, family, and the workplace. Social networks and obesity: an individual is more likely to be obese if a close other (spouse, friend, sibling) is obese.

Grandmother Hypothesis

Relates to the social side of aging - humans would not survive without older members of the species caring for younger members, so human attachment is crucial. Human attachment accounts for the fact that we survive long after human reproductive age, the grandmother hypothesis argues that the reason we survive so long after we can continue reproducing is that we need older members who are not actively reproducing to help care for the young ones.

Variable stiffness shoe

Shoe designed by Stanford for elderly to reduce pain while walking Study with shoe showed reduced pain scores for participants and it is now licensed to the Walking Company for public to buy

Period effects

Some aspect of a generation that has been molded by living through a particular part of history (9/11, WWII) ex: living through a recession might make an entire generation "savers" effects that affect an entire population living in a certain time, such as a disease or plague

Activity Theory

Successful aging occurs when older adults stay active and maintain social interactions. The aging process is delayed and the quality of life is enhanced when old people remain socially active. The theory assumes a relationship between activity and life satisfaction. This theory was offered in opposing response to the disengagement theory, it is rooted in ageism. As a result of the theory, people didn't necessarily change but people and ideas changed about social engagement and opportunities changed. The critics of this theory state that it overlooks inequalities in health and economics that hinder the ability for old people to engage in such activities. And, some older adults do not desire to engage in new challenges and social circles.

Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)

Tasks that support an independent lifestyle Examples: cooking, driving, grocery shopping, managing finance

VO2 Max/Maximal Oxygen Consumption

Test for measuring maximum of oxygen your body can intake VO2 max = cardiac output (blood pumped per minute) x arterio-venus oxygen difference VO2 max goes down over lifespan, about 1% per year after peak in 20s Physical activity is critical to maintaining optimal cardiovascular function throughout lifespan Improvements with exercise training - helps everything but max heart rate (determined by age)

Multimorbidity

The co-occurrence of two or more chronic medical conditions in one person.

Dementia

There are pre-symptoms of Dementia which make it a disease - persistent cognitive deficits resulting from organic impairment that cause impairment in occupational and social functioning; memory loss is always among the cognitive deficits

Cohort effects

Variations in the characteristics of individuals over time defined by some shared temporal experience or common life experience (ex. year of birth, number of years exposed to radiation, etc.)

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST)

Younger and older adults have different future time perspectives. Both groups have different socioemotional goals with younger adults being more information seeking and networking/meeting new people and older adults looking for more emotional meaning and deepening existing relationships. When time horizons shortened for young (such as a natural disaster, terrorist attack, etc) they acted more like elderly. When time horizons lengthened for elderly acted more like young people.

Medicare

a national social insurance program that guarantees access to health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older who have worked and paid into the system, and younger people with disabilities as well as people with end stage renal disease and persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In 2010, Medicare provided health insurance to 48 million Americans. Medicare covers about half (48 percent) of health care costs for enrollees.

Theories of aging: Genetic program

cells age by determined genetic pathway (intrinsic) evidence against: variation between individuals not true: aging happens because of "failures of genetically determined homeostatic mechanisms to promote cell and tissue maintenance."

Wisdom

while cognitive speed and memory decrease with age, one of the things that continues to grow with age is wisdom! Old people have more experiences to draw from and are therefore better at solving complicated/emotionally charged conflicts. Another aspect of wisdom (and why old people are good at giving advice) is helping people come to their own decisions rather than telling them what to do. Good judgment and advice about important but uncertain matters of life -Factual knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life -Strategic knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life -Knowledge in the contexts of life and societal change -Knowledge which considers the uncertainty of life -Knowledge which considers values and life goals

Cognitive Training

with age, working memory, perceptual speed and clearing mental clutter gets worse. The aging mind is slower and more prone to error. However, some apps and programs etc have been said to reduce these symptoms of aging by "exercising your brain" daily/weekly. The only evidence for cognitive training is that you get better at the particular game you are playing, not necessarily keeping your brain in shape. Its really better to exercise and continue learning throughout old age (Friedlander).