Why do we age

Why do we age? I recently took part in 5 experiments undergoing everyday activities to see how it feels to be; ; Blind Bone density problems Hearing difficulties To have limited fine motor skills Memory loss First activity I took part In expected us to try clothes on (that required buttons) to be able to fasten the buttons wearing thick mittens and gloves. The mittens and the gloves resembled the elderly and the Limited fine motor skills (finger movements required to fasten the buttons).

This task got me very frustrated as It was very difficult to fasten the buttons because as you get older your receptors become less insensitive this is linked to the fact that the brain and nervous system goes through natural changes, your brain and spinal cord lose nerve cells and weight therefore nerve cells begin to pass messages more slowly, a breakdown of nerves can affect your senses. You might have reduced or lost reflexes or sensation.

This leads to problems with movement and safety. This can affect people’s self-confidence as they may not understand their own weaknesses making it hard for them to trust themselves to do anything. The mittens and thick gloves resembled this as it was almost as if my fingers were numb and I found it hard to control them in a way I wanted to causing me feel empathy towards the elderly who do suffer with these everyday tasks.

The second activity I took part in was listening to a video clip with the volume turned down, this resembled the elderly with hearing difficulties as I really had to strain to hear the smallest sound. It usually is the higher pitched sounds that seem to be harder to hear as we get older and also it is more difficult for the elderly to hear voice and conversations whilst there is background noise, I could hear the lower pitched oases such as the laughter in the background but not the detailed Information In the conversations.

As you age, structures Inside the ear start to change and their functions decline. Your ability to pick up sounds decreases. You may also have problems maintaining your balance as you sit, stand, and walk. This could affect a person’s self-confidence and self-Image as they may feel embarrassed If they lose balance or have to ask again for someone to repeat themselves when really It Is Just a natural occurrence that happens to us all.

Linked to the sensory system controlling your senses such as hearing, sense of smell, taste and sight. The third activity I took part in required me to read a prescription and separate some elderly face, when you get older your eyesight not only adjusts more slowly to change in distances and light changes from daylight to night vision but if the prescription is hand written it could be more difficult for the elderly to read and understand also the font or printing of the prescription could have the same effect.

If the elderly person is not only having eyesight difficulties but also could be prone to diseases such as Parkinson for example and might not be physically able to separate the pills onto the specific days this could be a problem as it could have a potential life risk, if they need to take pills every day and they could not be able to do so. All of the eye structures change with aging. The cornea becomes less sensitive, so injuries may not be noticed. By the time you turn 60, your pupils decrease to about one third of the size they were when you were 20.

The lens becomes yellowed, less flexible, and slightly cloudy. The fat pads supporting the eyes decrease in amount and the eyes sink into their sockets. The eye muscles become less able to fully rotate the eye. The fourth activity I took part in was making Christmas cards with our eyes restricted by wearing glasses with numerous of different blockages for our eyesight, so we was completely or partially blind, we had to write the card, decorate the card and put it in the envelope.

This task was particularly difficult and frustrating as it was physically impossible to do the task without messing up, as you don’t know if you have already included the information or how neat it was. As we age the most common in sight difficulties is trouble focusing on something close, such as reading, writing and itching television this is called presbyters, it also gets harder to tell the colors apart but for our activity this was relevant as we tried different glasses on which reduced our eyesight to different limits.

This could affect someone self-esteem as they may feel they are getting worse as they age and not feeling good enough as they once did in their younger days. The last activity I took part in was attaching heavy weights onto my arms and doing daily tasks such as brushing our teeth and brushing our hair for 2-5 minutes, we felt the strain and this resembles an elderly person who may suffer with bone density robbers most common in women after menopause, this may leave you feeling weak as when we age our muscle mass naturally decreases as our bones lose calcium, linked to the musculoskeletal system.

The decrease of muscles for an elderly person could create a serious risk for daily activities as if they fall they wouldn’t be able to brace themselves properly and ease the fall as their muscles may not be strong enough to hold themselves. This could affect someone’s self-esteem as they may change their own opinion of themselves may see themselves as Weak’ when really the decrease of muscles begins Just after 30 years of age.