THE GROWING AGING POPULATION
As we go through life, we don’t stop and think about how the dominant ages of those around us affect the world. Currently, we have more people living into their 60s and beyond than ever before. The issue of increased 60+-year-old individuals caused the World Health Organization to develop a Global Strategy and Action Plan on Aging and Health. WHO published an article addressing the need for this concern and the various issues associated with having a developing aging population.
WHO FINDINGS
In 2015, according to WHO, worldwide, we had 900 million people who were age 60 and older. By 2050, that growth is expected to be 2 billion.
Today there are 125 million people who are age 80 and over. By 2050, it statisticians expect 434 million across the globe.
The majority of the older population will live in poor to middle-class countries.
The wealthier countries are already experiencing this shift and are having more time to adjust than the less affluent countries. Some will only have about 20 years to make that adjustment.
In some respects, being able to live longer has many advantages. There are more years to learn a new trade or hobby or mentor the younger generations. They can be available for their families to help out in raising their grandchildren. This scenario is contingent upon a significant factor – their health.
Despite how things may appear in the United States, the older populace isn’t living any healthier than previous generations. Significant disabilities continue to decline in more advanced countries. However, less affluent countries fail to make the same strides.
WHO’S STRATEGY
This is why WHO is developing a plan to help improve the transition of an older population. Many issues correspond. Misguided bias and prejudice against older people as frail, less mentally aware, and more of a burden still exist. Many countries don’t have an effective plan for older groups to stay independent. Plus, families are spread out across the globe.
WHO’S GLOBAL STRATEGY IS DESIGNED TO ADDRESS SOME KEY ISSUES:
Stress the importance of aging with as much health as possible and to pass plans to ensure such methods are available.
Coordinating health care to accommodate older generations better.
Creating long-term care systems
Fighting ageism prejudice, allowing for independence and support for healthy aging across all governments
Improving understanding of aging issues through research, observation, studies, and compassion.
These are important goals and necessary to change the perspective toward aging and to encourage better health during the aging process. This plan will allow older generations to thrive and continue to contribute to society.
HOW OUR BODIES AGE
When discussing aging, we tend to narrow our vision toward those who are 60 and over. Aging is a process, and how we care for ourselves throughout our lifetime is one factor that affects how much these processes impact our health. Understanding what is to be considered a normal part of aging is essential so as not to overlook or ignore early symptoms, which may point to a major problem better resolved earlier. It is also imperative to understand that while aging is a natural part of life, there are still choices we can make to maintain as much health as possible.
AGING OCCURS IN STAGES
You may have been told that aging is a steady progression. We have been aging since right after our 20s when we peaked in our physical and mental capabilities. Recently, scientists have discovered that it may not be the case. Instead, we have three distinct markers in our lifetime, which initiate the aging process.
A report in Nature Medicine outlines the identification of specific proteins in our blood plasma, which show alterations at particular stages of our lives. Benoit Lahallier and colleagues at Stanford University in Stanford, Ca based their hypothesis that aging could be identified from multiple earlier studies. These studies had demonstrated that it was possible to alter the aging process of specific tissues by giving younger blood to aging mice.
One particular study, performed by Geraldine Gontier and colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco, CA, was published in Cell. The scientists discovered that the blood did not need to come from very young mice, but that transfusions from mice in their teenage years worked as well. They had identified a specific enzyme that mutates as we age, affecting our heart health and cognitive ability.
This led Benoit Lahallier and colleagues to speculate that there must be specific frames of time in which the aging process starts as opposed to it being a constant process. They measured 2,925 different blood plasma proteins from 4,263 individuals aged 18-95. 1,379 changed with age. What they discovered was that at specific periods, there were waves of alterations in certain plasma proteins.
Those ages were found to be about the mid to late 30s, mid-60s, and late 70s.