For some, Alternate Loneliness, frailty and dependency. Others think of aging as a second spring, new tasks, a renewed zest for life and time for family.
Aging can be all of this and much more.
If we assume, for example, that you eat breakfast once a day in the morning, then Jeanne Calmet ate breakfast approximately 44725 times in her lifeThat corresponds to an incredible age of 122 years and 164 days, making the French woman the oldest person to have ever lived on our planet. How likely is it that someone can enjoy his or her breakfast croissant 201 times more often - i.e. live to be 123 years old? The answer is one in ten million centenarians according to a mathematical model from 2019. To put it into context: currently (2020), according to the United Nations, there are around 533.000 people worldwide who are over 100 years old.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the Life expectancy for a girl born in 2019 is currently 83,3 years and for newborn boys 78,5 yearsThe Rostock Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research paints a brighter picture for the future. It predicts that every third newborn girl in this country will have a life expectancy of 100 years or more. Among boys, the calculations show that one in ten newborns will live for at least a century.
Even if these numbers seem surreal or read like achievements to be proud of and strive towards, they are ultimately just numbers. It depends on the meaning we attach to these numbers.
When do we start to age?
Growing old is primarily a progressive process of change. However, this process does not begin at the age of 60 or 70, but actually already at birth. The elasticity of the lens in the eye, for example, decreases from around the age of 15. From the age of 20, the skin loses its elasticity; around 10 years later, the intervertebral discs begin to thin out - the person shrinks; from the age of 35, hair slowly begins to look grey and muscles gradually begin to waste away.
We experience all of this as challenging. One could also call this time a constant confrontation with one's own adaptabilityAgeing is therefore not a one-way street towards degradation, because alongside losses there are also gains, alongside degradation processes there are also maturation processes. Here is a brief overview again:
| ab15: Elasticity of the lens decreases |
| ab20: Skin loses elasticity |
| ab30: Intervertebral discs become thinner – we begin to shrink |
| ab35: first hair turns grey |
| ab35:beginning muscle atrophy |
Ageing goes beyond biology
Small aches and pains that become big ones over the years lead to a decrease in physical performance. Ageing people become more susceptible to illness. This is caused by a variety of molecular and cellular damage that can no longer be repaired with the shrinking compensatory power of one's own genetic makeup. The molecular changes are summarized in the Hallmarks of Aging. This can be measured in part with the help of epigenetics, which can determine the biological age of cells. Just as there are physical defects, aging also affects the social and psychological level.
Time confronts us with the loss of close relationships and changed social roles. A change in role from working to retiree can be accompanied by a loss of self-esteem, but it can also mean late freedom. The same applies to cognitive decline, which primarily affects short-term memory or high speed of thought. Older people often experience these changes not as a decline, but as a phase of adaptation or even maturation and growth.
It's a question of perspective
Just as the glass can be half full rather than half empty, age is always a question of perspective. It is not the lifespan records and sensational figures of ever-increasing life expectancies that are worth striving for. What is crucial is dealing with the awareness of the transience of strength, vitality and one's own cognitive performance.
Kane Tanaka of Japan passed away in April 2022 at over 119 years old, making her the third oldest person on the planet. In 2019, when Tanaka received her record for the world's oldest living person, she was asked about the happiest moment in her long life. Her answer was: "Now."
For some, aging means loneliness, frailty and dependency. For others, aging means a second spring, new tasks, a renewed zest for life and time for family. Aging can be all of these things and much more. Ultimately, it is what you make of it.
Sources
Robine, J.M., Allard, M., Herrmann, FR, & Jeune, B. (2019). The real facts supporting Jeanne Calment as the oldest ever human.The Journal of Gerontology: Series A,74(Supplement_1), S13-S20. https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/74/Supplement_1/S13/5569844
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/oldest-person-world-turns-117-180973930
https://www.7jahrelaenger.de/7jl/magazin/jedes-dritte-maedchen-wird-100-jahre-alt-55020
https://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/das-ist-ja-der-gipfel-79492
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