The average duration of life in the U.S. Is about seventy years for women & slightly less for men. Conservative experts believe that man is really built to last for about one hundred years, & that medial advances and more healthful living habits could bring this about within a generation or two.
What good is it to add years to life if we don’t also add life to years? In reality, unless people learn to enjoy life and to age gracefully, the extra year will be an additional burden. Growing old gracefully should become our goal.
From eighteen to thirty years is roughly the period of highest physical and mental strength. The experiences we accumulate from the day we’re born help us to conserve and use our physical and mental abilities more wisely, so that some time after thirty years we’re able to perform increasingly well in spite of slowly slipping force. By age fifty the increasing accumulation of experience is no longer able to offset the now more rapidly energy & therefore aging begins to assert itself noticeably & in many ways.
A number of things might be gradual as people who haven’t used eyeglasses before may at some point in their forties need them to read, and in the fifties they usually need bifocals.
In the forties, people will put on weight because there is a general slowdown in the oxidation of the aging body tissue. We also tend to do less strenuous work without reducing the amount of food consumed.
And in the fifties hearing loss is likely to begin. In general, high-pitched tones go first, so words with the sounds of F, S, & TH are confused. A hearing aid might be necessary in some cases.
Ageing is generally accompanied by a loss of physical & mental flexibility. This is noticed in a tendency to become stiff in the joints in slower comeback after a exhausting trip, excessive “night life”, or hard work, in slower healing of wounds, aching muscles & sprains, a slower recovery of energy following a disease, and greater difficulties in adapting to new people, new places and new ideas.
Men, especially, will notice loss of muscular strength. There will be unsteadiness and delicate muscle movements will be more clumsy and the stride in waking will become shorter. The assumption now is that the performance and capability to elderly has long been underestimated & can be significantly improved by a proper diet, sleep & exercise along with rest and relaxation.
Many older people have a tendency to lose their joy and will to live and chronic worriers might pout around and withdraw. Medical authorities now say that laughter is one of the greatest medicines for the elderly. You can always keep your sense of humor tuned up by surrounding you with pleasant & interesting people. Just act your age, and don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself even when no one else is around.
Now that we all realize the role that physical activity plays in our lives, remember to do something physical each day. Joints to be used, or in basic terms they’ll tighten with age creating that bent worn appearance we so frequently associate with getting old. Stay flexible & suitable for a training program in accordance with your ability.