The Main Theories of How the Process of Aging Works Essay

Theories of aging are extremely important because they allow us to see what effects aging have on the human body. The experience of graying hair in America for men is looked at as maturity and well established but for women, the effects are just that they are getting older. According to USA Today “"The long-standing perception that men with gray hair are experienced and women with gray hair are simply old may still be an issue that affects employees in workplaces across the U.S." (Italie, 2012). More women are dying their hair than ever before. There is a lot of pressure in today’s society to “not look old”. According to USA today “In 1950, 7% of women colored their hair, she said. Today, it's closer to 95% or more, depending on geographic

Humans undergo several stages during their lifetime including growth, development, reproduction and senescence. Senescence is defined as the deteriorative biological changes that organisms experience as they age eventually leading to death. These changes include low metabolism, a weak immune system, memory loss, poor vision and loss of hearing. Senescence begins in humans during their post-reproductive years. However, gerontology research has shown that individuals who reproduce late have longer life spans compared to individuals who reproduce early. Nonetheless, it does not indicate that senescence is inevitable. All organisms experience senescence,

There are two theories of ageing. The disengagement theory is when the elderly unfortunately start to give up with activities or social life. They become withdrawn from society. This is when you disengage from any way of contact or interaction. The reason for disengagement theory may be because physical functions deteriorate. There are three phases of disengagement theory. These are shrinkage of life space is when you are not working or have no contact with friends and family. You don’t get to meet new people. You decide not to take up any hobbies or activities. The second phase is increased individuality. This is when you become independent and what others do does not matter to you. The third phase is acceptance. You start to accept

As we grow older, reflecting on one’s life becomes a natural part of the aging process. This paper is a life review taken from my grandfather, Mr. D.H., who was born in the 1940’s, he is currently 75 years old. He has a birthday coming up soon in November where he will be 76 years old. He currently lives by himself in an apartment in a retirement community designed for older able adults, where this interview took place. Overall for his age, his health is stable only suffering from Type I diabetes and a thyroid condition (didn’t specify), that he was diagnosed with in his late 50s that didn’t allow him to work anymore. Despite his current disorders, he’s still able to do for himself, and continues to smoke cigarettes plus indulge in a beer or two a day.

Aging is a phenomena we are all familiar with, a trait characteristic of all humankind, in fact, of all living organisms. What are the effects of aging, especially those which go beyond the biological aspects and effect the social aspects of changing roles, seniority, and treatment of the aged? What was the original human condition before high-tech medical interventions redefined death and dying, before the industrial age changed the nature of the nuclear and extended family? Going back still farther, what can the behavior of chimpanzees tell us about the origins of our responses to the aging of those around us?

Aging is a part of life not everyone wants to accept. There are many theories on aging and I would like to focus on the Stochastic Theory. The Stochastic Theory is “based on random events that cause cellular damage that accumulates as the organism ages” (Grossman, S. & Lange, J., 2018, p. 55). Within this theory there are four categories but I am only going to focus on two: Wear and tear theory along with Connective tissue/cross-link theory.

From the very moment that you are born, you begin the process of aging and it is irrevocably unavoidable. As Denham Harman put it within his article The Aging Process, “Aging is the progressing accumulation of changes with time that are associated with or responsible for the ever increasing susceptibility to disease and death which accompanies advancing age” (1). Harman highlights what is often referred to as the two different paths of aging. The most minimalistic approach to categorizing our geriatric population is to divide them either into those “typically aging” and those “atypically aging”,. There are a multitude of factors that must be assessed in order to determine what is occurring

Aging is the amount of changes in person overtime. It is a multidimensional process, which can affect a person physically and psychologically. With age, people weaken and affect their memory. There are four types of aging: intrinsic, universal, progressive and deleterious. Intrinsic aging is chronologic aging, it deals with internal factors, and it decreased fat cells size, and damaged fat cells differentiation. Deleterious aging connects with aging will only be considered as part of the aging process if it “poor” for the individual. Universal aging deals with the process of how aging occur differently in all individual of species.

April 6th 1944 in her home in Jacksonville, IL Mary Lee Elizabeth Smith was born. This is my grandma. At 71 years old she is the youngest of 8 children. She herself had 6 kids before having a tubal ligation at the age of 27, which resulted in two adhesions that had wrapped around her colon. Other surgical procedures include getting her tonsils out at sixteen years old, the removal of a benign “knot” from her neck, a cyst removal from under her arm and bunion removal. She currently lives with congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis.

with aging can be exasperating and chronic illnesses even so much more. Taking care of one’s

In the study of aging, our understanding of issues is always colored by the training and perspectives of the researchers whose work we read. The purpose of this paper is to examine the interdisciplinary nature of gerontology. The disciplinary perspectives to be considered are psychological, sociological, and economic.

As aging is a stage of development that cannot prevented, the question of “can one’s aging be more successful than another?” is posed my many. Researchers continually consider the differences between aging successfully, and aging unsuccessfully. As researchers work to complete their studies, many find a reoccurring basis of successful aging. A basis of successful aging can be set including: physical health disease free, chronic illness free, mental health disease free, among many others. The only problem with this basis is the difference from person to person in terms of what makes aging successful. As individuals age, their mental state is a large predictor of how the person will age. A positive mental state about aging, will have a more positive effect on a person’s aging process. Many factors may influence the positivity of aging, such as negative aging stereotypes and discrimination because of older age. These negative aging stereotypes include but are not limited to: older adults are not as smart, older adults are angry all the time, older adults are bad drivers, older adults are isolated and never socialize. In adult aging and development, having a positive outlook on aging will lead to better mental and physical aging.

Is aging the result of genetic predisposition or do our cells and organs just wear out over time? Some accepted explanations of biological aging outlined in the reading are programmed, error based, and non-programmed theories.

Aging is the process of becoming older, as we age, multiple mutations occur that concern all the processes of aging well as it compromising a number of different genes. There are many theories of biological aging, such as the Cellular Aging Theory, Immunological Theory, and the Wear and Tear Theory. The Cellular Aging theory describes the process of aging in which cells slow their number of replication, thus giving each species a “biological clock that determines its maximum life span” and how quickly one 's health will deteriorate(Hooyman, 42). After a certain number of years, each cell which follows an apparent biological clock starts to replicate itself less, thus the specific individual or species slowly deteriorates. This theory gives

Humanity has come a long way as we evolve and adapt to the changing environment. Through the years, we have managed to overcome several limitations, which in the past were nothing more than dreams. We succeeded in landing on the moon and communicating over long distance, yet there are still some boundaries we have yet to cross despite our best effort. Aging is an inevitable process of nature. While we cannot stop the ticking clock in our body, we have made it possible for aging to be delayed and relieved to a great extent through advance technology and modern governance. High-tech equipments and medications are available for the treatments of more illnesses as our understanding of medicine improves and governments nowadays are doing