As we age different parts of our body will gradually start to deteriorate, and at different times. It is inevitable. Leading clinicians have revealed the exact age when different body parts start to age, most alarmingly the brain and lungs are the first organs to start the aging process. Leading clinicians, Angela Epstein tells the Daily Mail the ages when different parts of the body start to lose their battle.
When do the body parts start to age?
AGING IN WOMEN
FERTILITY – Starts aging at 35
- Female fertility begins to decline after 35 years of age, as the number and quality of eggs in the ovaries start to fall, the lining of the womb may become thinner, making it less likely for a fertilised egg to take, and also creates an environment hostile to sperm.
BLADDER – Starts aging at 65 Loss of bladder control is more likely when you hit 65.
- Women are more vulnerable to bladder problems as, after the menopause, declining oestrogen levels make tissues in the urethra – the tube through which urine passes – thinner and weaker, reducing bladder support. Bladder capacity in an older adult generally is about half that of a younger person – about two cups in a 30-year-old and one cup in a 70-year-old.
BREASTS – Start aging at 35
- BY the mid-30s, women’s breasts are beginning to lose fat and tissue, reducing size and fullness. Sagging breasts are noticeable by the age of 40 and the areola (the area surrounding the nipple) shrinks considerably.
Ways in Which You Can Keep Your Breasts Healthy
Preventative measures that will help slow down the process
AGING IN MEN
- French doctors have found that the quality of men’s sperm starts to deteriorate by 35 years of age, by the time he is 45 years old, the risk to their partners of miscarriages increases.
PROSTATE – Starts aging at 50
- The prostate often becomes enlarged with age, leading to problems such as increased need to urinate, says Professor Roger Kirby, director of the Prostate Centre in London. This is known as benign prostatichyperplasia and affects half of men over 50, but rarely those under 40. It occurs when the prostate absorbs large amounts of the male sex hormone testosterone, which increases the growth of cells in the prostate. A normal prostate is the size of a walnut, but the condition can increase this to the size of a tangerine.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BHP)
HAIR – Starts aging at 30
- Male hair loss usually begins in the 30s. Hair is made in tiny pouches just under the skin’s surface, known as follicles. A hair normally grows from each follicle for about three years, is then shed and a new hair grows. Most people will have some grey hair by the age of 35. When we are young, our hair is coloured by the pigments produced by cells in the hair follicle known as melanocytes.
AGING IN BOTH MEN AND WOMEN
THE GUT – Friendly bacteria starts to decrease around 55 years of age
- A well functioning gut has a good balance of good and bad bacterias. The levels of friendly bacteria in the gut drop remarkably after 55 years of age, particularly in the large intestine, says Tom MacDonald, professor of immunology at Barts and The London medical school. this means as we grow older foods are more poorly digested and there is an increase risk of bowel disorders and disease. Constipation is more likely to occur as we age, as the flow of digestive juices from the stomach, liver, pancreas and small intestine slows down.
BRAIN – Starts aging at 20
- As we get older, the number of nerve cells – or neurons – in the brain decreases. We begin our lives with around 100 billion, but in our 20s there is a gradual decline in this number. By the age of 40, we could be losing up to 10,000 per day, this affects memory, co-ordination and brain function. Of course life factors would come into this also. If a person drinks an excess of alcohol and abuses drugs the decline will be accelerated.
LUNGS – Start aging at 20
- Lung capacity slowly starts to decrease from the age of 20. By the age of 40, some people are already experiencing breathlessness, this is partly due to the muscles and the rib cage which control breathing stiffen up. Of course smoking exacerbates and accelerates this decline much more rapidly and you are most certainly likely to develop cancer.
VOICE Starts aging at 65
- Our voices become quieter and hoarser with age. The soft tissues in the voice box (larynx) weaken, this affects the pitch, loudness and quality of the voice. A woman’s voice may become huskier and lower in pitch, whereas a man’s might become thinner and higher.
EYES – Start aging at 40
- Many people in their forties start to use glasses for reading, we often become long-sightedness, this affects our ability to see objects up close.
HEART – Starts ageing at 40
- The heart pumps blood less effectively around the body as we get older. This is because blood vessels become less elastic, while arteries can harden or become blocked because of fatty deposits forming on the coronary arteries – caused by eating too many saturated fats. The blood supply to the heart is reduced, which often results in angina a precursor for heart attacks. Men over 45 and women over 55 are at greater risk of a heart attack.
LIVER – Starts aging at 70
- This is the only organ in the body which defies the aging process.
KIDNEYS – Starts aging at 50
- With kidneys, the number of filtering units (nephrons) that remove waste from the bloodstream starts to reduce in middle age.
BONES – Start ageing at 35
- Throughout our life, old bone is broken down by cells called osteoclasts and replaced by bone-building cells called osteoblasts – a process called bone turnover, explains Robert Moots, professor of rheumatology at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool. Children’s bone growth is rapid – the skeleton takes just two years to totally renew itself. In adults, this can take ten years. Until our mid-20s, bone density is still increasing. But at 35 bones loss begins as part of the natural aging process.
TEETH – Start aging at 40
- As we age, we produce less saliva, which washes away bacteria, so teeth and gums are more vulnerable to decay. Receding gums – when tissue is lost from gums around the teeth – is common in adults over 40 years of age.
MUSCLES – Start aging at 30
- Muscle is constantly being built up and broken down, a process which is well balanced in young adult. However, by the time we’re 30, breakdown is greater than buildup, explains Professor Robert Moots. Once adults reach 40, they start to lose between 0.5 and 2 per cent of their muscle each year. Regular exercise can help prevent this.
HEARING – Starts ageing mid-50s
- More than half of people over 60 lose hearing because of their age, according to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.
SKIN – Starts aging mid-20s
- The skin starts to age naturally in your mid-20s.
TASTE AND SMELL – Start aging at 60
- We start out in life with about 10,000 taste buds scattered on the tongue. This number can halve later in life. After we turn 60, taste and smell gradually decline, partly as a result of the normal aging process.
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| Repair, Retrain, and Maintain Your Brain
Age-associated memory loss is the number one health complaint of Americans over 60, but loss of brain cells is not something you have to just accept—mental exercise can create and sustain new cells in 50-, 60-, 70-, and even 80-year-old brains. The result? A reduced risk of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease and more robust memory function overall. |
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| As life expectancy continues to increase, so does the need to understand the factors that increase health and vitality. Physiology of Exercise and Healthy Aging applies the science of exercise physiology to an analysis of the aging process and identifies the positive effects that regular exercise and physical activity have not only on longevity but also on delaying specific diseases, decreasing morbidity, and increasing quality of life. |
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