Aging, Dying, Death

Learning about death

-A childs understanding of death evolves from about age 6 to 9 -Mature understanding of death, a conscious recognition of the facts

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

-A record of the electrical activity of the brain (brain waves)

Handling Psychological and Mental Changes

-Dementia: loss of brain function w/ certain diseases --50 known causes are treatable --inversible forms --Alzheimers disease: amyloid plaques, cause still unknown, risk factors include age and genetics --Lewy Body Dementia: Resembles AD w/ two o more distinctive featurs --Muti- infarcf dementia: series of small strokes or changes in the brains blood supply that destroy brain tissue

Giving The Gift of Life

-Each day about 79 people receive an organ transplant -18 people a day on the waiting list die because not enough organs are available

Life Enhancing Measures: Eat Wisely

-Eat a varied diet full of nutrient rich foods -Maintain a healthy weight -Control drinking and overdependence on medication -Dont smoke -Schedule physical examinations to detect treatable diseases -Recognize and reduce stress

Coming to terms with death

-Encounters w/ death and dying help us realize that life is both precious and precarious -Dying and death offer opportunities for growth -Denying death results in denying life

Life enhancing measures: develop physical fitness

-Enhances both psychological and physical health -2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans --Avoid Inactivity --150 mins/wk --Muscle Strengthening --Specific guidelines for older adults

Adapting to physical changes

-Hearing loss: Presbycusis -Vision Changes --Glaucoma --Age related macular degeneration (AMD) --Presbyopia --Cataracts -Arthritis --Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form -Menopause --Permenopause -Osteoporosis

Life Support Systems: Brain Death

-Lack of receptivity and response to external stimuli -absence of spontaneous muscular movement and spontaneous breathing -Absence of observable reflexes -Absence of brain activity: EEG, Clinical death (medical term defining there is no longer blood flow in the body), cellular death ( breakdown of metabolic processes at the level of the body's cells)

Generating Vitality as you age

-Physically and Mental Changes occur gradually over a lifetime -Successful aging requires preparation -Characteristics associated w/aging are not entirely due to aging -Many result from neglect and abuse of our bodies and minds

Government Aid and Policies

-Several programs are in place to help older Americans --Food stamps --Housing subsidies --Social Security ---Funds have been used for other deficits, so its future is uncertain --Medicare --Medicaid

Medicaid

-Used when other resources exhausted -The crucial question is who is going to pay -18% of the gross U.S. GDP goes to health care expenditures

Life expectancy

-average length of time we can expect to live (varies among gender, ethnic groups, increases in 29th century)

Death

-cessation of the flow of vital bodily fluids -cessation of the heart beating and of breathing

Life enhancing measures: challenge your mind

-older adults who stay mentally active have a lower risk of developing dementia --Reading --Doing puzzles -Learning language -studying music

Life in an Aging America

-people age 65 and over are a large minority -perceptions about what it means to be old are changing -many of the elderly live below or near the poverty level --Healthcare remains the largest expense --Income is often reduced to substinence levels (inflation) --Many use social security as a main source of income

Health span

-period in life where you are generally healthy and free from chronic or serious disease -no theory sufficiently explains the changes of aging

Mature understanding of Death: Four components (Speece and Brent)

1) Universality: all living things eventually die 2) Irreversibility: things that die cannot be made alive again 3) Nonfunctionality: death involves the cessation of all physiological functioning, or signs of life. 4) Causality: There are biological reasons for the occurrence of death

Life span

100-120 years affected by environmental and behavioral factors

Medicare

Health Insurance for the elderly and the disabled Part A: payroll deduction by FICA TAX-impatient care, home and hospice services Part B: Monthly premiums paid by people who choose to enroll -Physicians and other services that are not covered by Part A Part D: prescription drug coverage plan

Changing the publics idea of aging

Impressions about aging must be changed -we should judge productivity, not age

Dealing with changes of aging

Planning for social changes -changing roles and relationships -Increased leisure time -the economics of retirement --financial planning should begin early in life --It is especially critical for women because they longer

Aging

The process of becoming older -genetically determined -profoundly affected by one's environment

Benefits to aging:

Wisdom and experience

Donor shortage:Uniform donor card

a consent form authorizing the use of the signer's body parts for transplantation or medical research upon his or her death

Planning for Death: Making a will

a legal instrument expressing a person's intentions and wishes for the disposition of his or her property after death -Estate: money, property, and other possessions -Testator: the person making the will -Intestate: a person dies w/o having left a valid will-property is distributed according to rules set up by the state -Testamentary Letter-document includes info about your personal affairs (bank statements, credit cards, documents)

Deceased donors

body parts that cant be removed from living donors- heart, lungs, eye, skin, bone, tendons,

Living donors

single kidney, parts of organs, blood, bone marrow

Completing an Advance Directive

statement made by a competent person about choices for medical treatment should he or she become unable to make such decisions or communicate them at some time in the future Two Forms: -Living will: enables individuals to provide instructions about the kind of medical care they wish to receive -Health Care proxy: durable power of attorney for health care, makes it possible to appoin anothe person to make decisions about medical treatment if you become unable to do so. -Surrogate makes decisions based on your decisions