2/12/2017

GER 502-L2
Theory of ageing and
epidemiology

Dr. Sura Ali Ahmed Fuoad

A.P & Associate Dean college of Dentistry/GMU
B D S , M D S , Ph D in oral medicine.
Diploma in health professional education

February 12, 2017

www.gmu.ac.ae

Content
• Introduction
• Persons Over The Age Of 65
• Ageism
• Years of life expectancy at birth
• Incidence and Prevalence
• Major causes of death
• Older patients differ in several important ways from young to
middle-aged adults with the same disease.‘
• Theories of Aging

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lecture ,the student should be able to :
• Know the distribution of population regarding their ages
• Define ageism
• Know the Years of life expectancy at birth by gender
• describe the Incidence and Prevalence of ageing
• List major causes of death
• Explain how Older patients differ in several important ways from young
to middle-aged adults with the same disease.
• Describe Theories of Aging

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Persons Over The Age Of 65

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Ageism

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EPIDEMIOLOGY
Incidence and Prevalence
• By the year 2030, this group will represent about 20% of US
population,due to a dramatic increase in life expectancy over the past
century, which is predicted to continue into the present century.
• Today, a significant number of years are lived after the age of 65 by a
number of older adults.In fact, the 85 and older age group is the most
rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population.

• One primary cause for death in older adults is usually identified,

but often, multiple contributing causes are revealed, include
sociodemo- graphic characteristics, health habits, cardiovascular
risk factors, clinical diseases, subclinical diseases, physical
disability, and cognitive impairment. When these risk factors and
conditions are taken into account, age becomes
less important as a predictor of mortality. However,
overall, the death rate increases with aging until patients are very
old, at which time it slows down.

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Older patients differ in several important ways from

young to middle-aged adults with the same disease.
1-Many older adults have two or more diseases at the same
time that added risk for adverse outcomes, such as death.
2-Treatment for one disease, such as aspirin for stroke prevention, may adversely affect
another disease such as peptic ulcer. Some pairs of diseases significantly increase life risk
of disability. For example, when arthritis or heart disease is found alone in an older adult, the
risk for disability is increased by 3 to 4 times. However, when they occur at the same time
(they coexist in 18% of older adults), the risk of disability increases by 14 times
3-The signs and symptoms associated with a disease are nonspecific. For example, the
frequency of silent myocardial infarction increases with age.
4-A condition that is primarily found in older adults, consists of a wasting syndrome with reduced
muscle mass, weight loss, weakness, poor exercise tolerance, and low levels of physical
activity, which, in late stages, can lead to death.

5-Cognitive impairment, which increases in frequency as people age, is a

risk factor for: falls,immobilization,dependency,institutionalization,
and mortality.
6- Physical disability (i.e., being dependent
on others for basic self-care, shopping, paying bills, etc.) is a serious and
common outcome of chronic disease in older adults.

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Theories of Aging
• No single hypothesis fully explains the process of aging.
Two main theories have been presented to explain aging
The first relates to programmed (genetic)causes, dominated by genetic
theories
The second involves random damage (stochastic or process-of-living
theories.

Programmed theories include

 Programmed senescence (genes interfere with the ability of cells to reproduce)
 Hormonal (biologic clock alters hormone secretion)
 Immunologic factors (T-cell function declines, with increasing risks for infection and cancer)
 Telomere shortening (shortening of telomeres in somatic cells reduces tile ability of cells to divide).
Telomeres are regions of DNA that cap the ends of linear chromosomes.
In somatic cells, telomeres shorten progressively with every cell division, thereby reducing the
number of repeat sequences that occur.
Eventually, the chromosomes become unstable, and the cell is no longer able to replicate. This
process acts in the manner of an
inherent biologic clock by limiting the number of divisions that can be accomplished by the cells. In
contrast, germ cells do not undergo telomeric shortening and have relatively unlimited capacities
for cell division."

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Random damage theories include

metabolic rate (the higher the rate, the shorter the life span),
glycation (causes proteins to become joined, resulting in rigidity and
decreased function)
somatic mutation (mutations in genes associated with aging cause cells to
stop functioning)
 wear and tear (parts of cells wear out over time), and
oxygen free radicals (free radicals such as superoxide or hydroxyl cause
tissue damage)

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Biologic Theories Of Aging

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