PHY S IO L O G I C A L

CHANGES W I T H A G I NG
 SENESCENCE

• …ALL POSTMATURATIONAL CHANGES AND THE INCREASING VULNERABILITY

INDIVIDUALS FACE AS A RESULT OF THESE CHANGES.

• THE GROUP OF EFFECTS THAT LEAD TO A DECREASING EXPECTATION OF LIFE

WITH INCREASING AGE
SENCESCENCE, CONT’D
• DIFFERS FROM OTHER BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES:
• ITS CHARACTERISTICS ARE UNIVERSAL

• CHANGES COME FROM WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL

• ASSOCIATED PROCESSES OCCUR GRADUALLY

• CHANGES HAVE A DELETERIOUS EFFECT ON THE INVIDUAL

 ULTIMATELY…YOU DIE.
U.S. DEATH RATES:
• LEADING CAUSE AMONG OA’S--HEART DISEASE

• HIGHER FOR OLDER MEN THAN FOR OLDER WOMEN

• HIGHER FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS THAN WHITES

AGE-RELATED PHYSIOLOGICAL
CHANGES

• …ALL PEOPLE AGE, BUT NOT AT THE SAME RATE

AT AGE 75, THE AVERAGE PERSON,
COMPARED TO AGE 30:
• 92% OF BRAIN WEIGHT
• 84% OF BASAL METABOLISM
• 70% KIDNEY FILTRATION RATE
• 43% OF MAXIMUL BREATHING CAPACITY

• WE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE WE ONCE WERE!

 CHANGES IN THE SKIN

• “TO MOST PEOPLE, THE CONDITION OF THE SKIN, HAIR, AND CONNECTIVE
TISSUE COLLECTIVELY REPRESENTS THE ULTIMATE INDICATOR OF AGE”.
(KART & KINNEY, P. 74)
SKIN: WRINKLING

• MUSCLES OF THE FACE ARE CAPABLE OF TREMENDOUS MOVEMENT. “SMILES,

LAUGHTER, FROWNS, DISAPPOINTMENT, AGER, RAGE, AND SURPRISE ARE ALL
RECORDED. THE HAND OF TIME CAPTURES THESE EXPRESSIONS AND
OUTLINES THEM ON THE FACE….BY THE AGE OF 40, MOST PEOPLE BEAR THE
TYPICAL LINES OF THEIR EXPRESSIONS.” (KART & KINNEY, P. 75)
SKIN--WRINKLING:

• LOSS OF SUBCUTANEOUS FAT

• > VULNERABILITY TO PRESSURE SORES

• LESS INSULATION OF BODY TO COLD (ALSO AFFECTED BY DIMINISHED BLOOD

FLOW TO SKIN & EXTREMITIES) & HEAT
SKIN & NAILS

• ATROPHIC CHANGES IN SWEAT GLANDS

• THICKENED FINGERNAILS & TOENAILS
• GENERALIZED LOSS OF BODY HAIR AND HEAD HAIR
• DECREASE IN # OF FUNCTIONING PIGMENT-PRODUCING CELLS-->GRAYING
• SOME REMAINING PIGMENT CELLS ENLARGE--> “AGE SPOTS”
• SKIN CHANGES INCREASE. VULNERABILITY TO INFECTIONS/DISORDERS
 SKELETOMUSCULAR SYSTEM
CHANGES
• “ARTHRITIS & ALLIED BONE AND MUSCULAR CONDITIONS ARE AMONG THE
MOST COMMON OF ALL DISORDERS AFFFECTING PEOPLE 65 YEARS OF AGE
AND OVER.” (KART & KINNEY, P. 76)

• ARTHRITIS: A GENERIC TERM THAT REFERS TO AN INFLAMMATION OR

DEGENERATIVE CHANGE IN A JOINT
• OCCURS WORLD WIDE & IS ONE OF THE OLDEST KNOWN DISEASES
ARTHRITIS

• OSTEOARTHRITIS
• CAUSE NOT KNOWN
• ALSO REFERRED TO AS DEGENERATIVE JOINT DISEASE
• A GRADUAL WEARING AWAY OF JOINT CARTILAGE THAT RESULTS IN THE
EXPOSURE OF ROUGH UNDERLYING BONE ENDS
• CAN DO DAMAGE TO INTERNAL LIGAMENTS
• MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED W/ WEIGHT BEARING JNTS
• RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
• A CHRONIC, SYSTEMIC, INFLAMMATORY DISEASE OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE
• 2-3 TIMES MORE COMMON AMONG WOMEN THAN MEN
• CURRENTLY VIEWED AS AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE
• MAY OCCUR AT ANY AGE -- MOST COMMON ONSET BETWEEN 20 & 50
MUSCULOSKELTAL, CONT’D:

• OSTEOPENIA --> OSTEOPOROSIS:

• GRADUAL LOSS OF BONE THAT REDUCES SKELTAL MASS WITHOUT DISRUPTING
THE PROPORTIONS OF MINERALS & ORGANIC MATERIALS
• FOR MANY, IT IS ASYMPTOMATIC
• BONES MOST CRITICALLY INVOLVED: VERTEBRA, WRIST, HIP
MUSCULOSKELETAL, CONT’D:

• SARCOPENIA:
• LOSS OF MUSCLE MASS THAT OCCURS WITH AGING

• CAUSE NOT COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD

• PREVENTABLE/REVERSIBLE WITH REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

 GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM
• ATOPHY OF SECRETION MECHANISMS
• DECREASING MOTILITY OF THE GUT
• LOSS OF STRENGTH/TONE OF MUSCULAR TISSUE & SUPPORTING
STRUCTURES
• CHANGES IN NEUROSENSORY FEEDBACK
• ENZYME & HORMONE RELEASE
• INNERVATION OF THE TRACT
• DIMINISHED RESPONSE TO PAIN & INTERNAL SENSATIONS
• THE PHENOMENON OF REFERRAL IS COMMON IN THE GI--I.E. SIGNS &
SYMPTOMS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH ONE PART OF THE TRACT MAY
ACTUALLY BE ASSOCIATED WITH ANOTHER PART OF THE TRACT.
“DISCOMFORT PERCEIVED AS ORIGINATING IN THE STOMACH MAY ACTUALLY
BE COMING FROM THE LOWER GI TRACT.” (P. 79)

• THE GI SYMPTOMS OFTEN HAVE THEIR ORIGINS IN PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS

 CARDOPULMONARY SYSTEM

• IN THE ABSENCE OF DISEASE, THE HEART TENDS TO MAINTAIN ITS SIZE

• HEART VALVES TEND TO INCREASE IN THICKNESS WITH AGE
• BP TENDS TO GO UP WITH AGE
• SYSTOLIC STABILIZES AT ABOUT AGE 75
• DIASTOLIC STABILIZES AT ABOUT 65 THEN MAY GRADUALLY DECLINE
 ATHEROSCLEROSIS VS.
ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
• ATHEROSCLEROSIS
• DEVELOPED BY AN OVERWHELMING # OF PEOPLE IN INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS
• A NARROWING OF ARTERIAL PASSAGEWAYS AS A RESULT OF THE DEVELOPMENT
OF PLAQUES ON THEIR INTERIOR WALLS
• REDUCES THE SIZE OF THE PASSAGEWAY--EVEN TO THE PT OF CLOSING IT OFF. A
CAUSE OF ISCHEMIC HEART TISSUE (TISSUE DEPRIVED OF ADEQUATE BLOOD
SUPPLY)
• ARTERIOSCLEROSIS:
• A GENERIC TERM REFERRING TO THE LOSS OF ELASTICITY OF ARTERIAL WALLS
• OFTEN REFERRED TO AS “HARDENING OF THE ARTERIES”
• CONSIDERED A GENERAL AGING PHENOMENON
RESPIRATORY CHANGES

• AIRWAYS & TISSUES BECOME LESS ELASTIC & MORE RIGID WITH AGE
• OSTEOPOROSIS MAY ALTER THE SIZE/SHAPE OF THE CHEST CAVITY
• POWER OF RESPIRATORY & ABDOMINAL MUSCLES BECOMES REDUCED--
HINDERS DIAPHRAMATIC MOVEMENT
 URINARY SYSTEM

• “THE BLADDER OF AN ELDERLY PERSON HAS A CAPACITY OF LESS THAN HALF

(250ML) THAT OF A YOUNG ADULT (600 ML) AND OFTEN CONTAINS AS MUCH
AS 100 ML OF RESIDUAL URINE”. (P. 81)

• MICTURATION REFLEX IS DELAYED-- USUALLY ACTIVATED WHEN BLADDER IS

HALF FULL; IN OAS, NOT UNTIL BLADDER IS NEARLY AT CAPACITY
GENITAL SYSTEM CHANGES

• “THE GENITAL SYSTEM IS CHARACTERIZED BY A NUMBER OF AGE-RELATED

CHANGES IN PHYSIOLOGY AND ANATOMY. ON THE WHOLE, VERY FEW AGE-
SPECIFIC DISORDERS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BODY SYSTEM. WITH THE
EXCEPTION OF DECLINING LEVELS OF TESTOSTERONE, MOST OF THE
PROBLEMS OF SEXUALITY AND AGING ARE SOCIOGENIC OR PSYCHOGENIC”.
(P. 83)
FEMALE GENITAL TRACT

• EXTERNAL GENITALIA
• FOLDS BECOME LESS PRONOUNCED
• SKIN BECOMES THINNER
• VASCULARIY & ELASTICITY DECREASE
• BECOMES MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO TISSUE TRAUMA & ITCHING
• # OF GLANDS DECREAS, AS DOES LEVEL OF SECRETION
• INTERNATAL REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS
• UTERUS DECREASES IN SIZE & BECOMES MORE FIBROUS
• UTERUS HAS FEWER ENDOMETRIAL GLANDS
• CERVIX REDUCED IN SIZE
• UTERINE TUBES BECOME THINNER
• OVARIES TAKE ON AN IRREGUAR SHAPE
• OVULATION STOPS--MENOPAUSE (50% BETWEEN AGES 45 AND 50)
MALE GENITAL SYSTEM

• CONTINUES TO PRODUCE GERM CELLS (SPERM) AND SEX HORMONES

(TESTOSTERONE) WELL INTO OLD AGE, DECLINING WITH ADVANCING AGE

• SIZE & FIRMNESS OF THE TESTES DECREASE

• REDUCED SPERM PRODUCTION DUE TO AGE-RELATED FIBROSIS WHICH
CONSTRICTS THE BLOOD SUPPLY

• FIBROSIS MAY ALSO AFFECT THE PENIS SINCE ERECTION IS A PURELY

VASCULAR PHENOMENON
 …AND ON THAT HAPPY NOTE,
WE MOVE ON

• … WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS FOR THE CHANGES

OF AGING?