Development Through Life Stages

Hormones and the menopause
Many women go through a decrease in the hormone oestrogen following the menopause. Women are more at risk of osteoporosis than men. This is because bone strength is influenced by the reduction of oestrogen. Some people are more at risk than others of getting this disease because it can be influenced by genetic inheritance. The environment can make a difference this is because exercise strengthens muscles and bones and can prevent osteoporosis.

Cardiovascular system
The heart pumps blood around the body. With age many individuals may develop narrowing of the arteries and other blood vessels due to fats such as chloestrol being laid down in the walls of the blood vessels. The process of clogging up is called atherosclerosis. Athero indicates fatty deposits and sclerosis means the hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis can result in higher blood pressure and high blood pressure puts the person at risk of stroke. This is where the blood supply to the brain is blocked (and heart attack)

Respiratory system
When blood is not being pumped around the body efficiently, an individual will become breathless. As you get older the strength of the chest muscles may reduce and the efficiency of the lungs may deteriorate. Chronic disease such as bronchitis may develop. Emphysema is a disease where the air sacs in the lungs become damaged. This causes shortness of breath and can result in respiratory or heart failure. Emphysema can be induced by smoking, which causes the lungs to produce chemicals that damage the walls of the air sacs. This will result in a drop of the amount of oxygen in the blood.

Nervous system
Through age people may lose nerve cells that activate muscles. (Neurotransmitters) The chemicals released by the nerves in order to communicate and control muscles. May also function less with age. Motor neurone disease is a disease that is most common among people age 50 to 70. This disease effects the nerves , it causes them to degenerate this causes weakness and loss of muscle tissue. The causes of motor neurones disease are not understood but it is possible that genetic inheritance may be a part of it, or that exposure to toxic chemicals may increase a person’s risk of developing the disease. Muscular skeletal

Older people may experience the following
Muscle thinning
Decline in mobility
Arthritis
Ageing can result in a general reduction and shrinkage of skeletal muscles the muscles we use to walk, lift things and move about. The loss of muscles tends to start after the age of 40 even in people who enjoy a healthy diet. Lack of effort may contribute to muscle thinning in some people.

Absorption of nutrients
Absorption of food, including minerals and vitamins, becomes less efficient in older people, meaning that some people can experience malnourishments even though they continue to eat the same diet that was adequate in early adulthood. Some older people are prescribed additional supplements of calcium and vitamin D in order to prevent osteoporosis as the body may not absorb sufficient calcium and vitamins D from the person’s diet. Other deficiencies in the diets of older people often include insufficient iron and fibre.

As people grown older the elasticity of the skin reduces. The amount of fat sorted under the skin decreases, its appearance becomes looser and it develops wrinkles. Skin is often damaged by too much exposure to sunlight. Strong sunlight contains ultra violet rays which can damage unprotected skin. Ultra violet rays may cause an increase in freckles, age spots, wrinkles and even rough and leathery skin. Using a sun cream with high ultraviolet protection factor can also help to reduce this damage

Loss of a partner
Loss of a partner can cause temporary depression and anxiety most people share many of the same feelings. The process may take a few days or years. Grieving that goes on and on, such a chronic grieving resulting in severe depression, or being stuck in a certain phase of the process, like denial, is considered to indicate pathological grief, and may require intervention by a trained professional. Other signs of pathological grief include extreme guilt feelings, irrational feelings of responsibility for the loss, and excessive despondency. Some of the social changes of loss of a partner are many people who do loose a partner deal with their problems by not going out and staying in hiding from the outside world and blocking everything out.

Retirement
Social Security Disability is just like Retirement Social Security except you got it before you were 66. Both are not taxable. If you have other income you still may have to file a tax return on your other income or assets. retirement can affect the individual in many ways, when you retire lots of social changes take place, many people get depressed because they miss working and they are not socialising with people as much, they also have lots of of spare time on their hands with nothing to do. On the other hand some people are happier and less stressed when they retire because they didn’t enjoy their job, or they may be ill with age. Others get more involved with social activates because they have spare time such as going to bingo.

For many people intellectual changes take place as they get involved with different things to do in their spare time such doing jigsaws, reading and knitting. The emotional balance for those approaching retirement is a “combination of excitement with underlying trepidation, The first stage, which lasts about a year, is excitement. Retirees rest, go on trips, downsize their homes or do the things they’ve always wanted to do. After the novelty of retirement wears off, Moore said, people start asking themselves, what do I do now,The first sense of emotion is loss, [particularly a] loss of identity, Retirees who adjust the best don’t think of the transition as retirement because the word carries a passive and negative connotation.