Ageing (Society and Disease)

Question 1

What evidence exists that supports the programmed ageing theory?

Answer 1

Many plants have well defined time lines

Question 2

What is one method by which bacterium extend there life spans

Answer 2

Form spores which are effectively in suspended animation

Question 3

how has disease prevalence changed throughout human history and how has this effected human longevity?

Answer 3

urbanisation increased prevelence and incidence of deadly diseases
malnutrution killing huge amounts
lately healthcare has improved.
childhood deaths used to make up the majority of deaths

Question 4

What are the methods of defining age?

Answer 4

• Chronological age (years)
• Biological age (physical and organ function)
• Functional age (competence compared to others of same Chronicalogical age)
• psychological age (adaption to mental tasks)
• Social age (how they behave in relation to real age)

Question 5

What are the 3 categories of older adulthood?

Answer 5

Young-old: 65-74
Old-old: 75-84
Oldest-old: 85+

Question 6

What are some stats associated with ageism?

Answer 6

60% of older people in the UK agree that age discrimination exists in the daily lives of older people
• 68% of older people agree that politicians see older
people as a low priority
• 76% of older people believe the country fails to
make good use of the skills and talents of older
people
• 97% of annual travel insurance policies impose an
upper age limit for new customers
• In a study of patients at a stroke unit (2004-06), 4%
of patients age 75 and above were given an MRI
scan, compared to 26% of those under

Question 7

How has views on old age changed over times

Answer 7

Use to be associated with wisdom but now not so, more seen as a burden

Question 8

how has birth rate varied over the past years?

Answer 8

Following the baby boom birth rate has declined. The average number of births per fertile woman is now less than 2 and some experts expect the number to fall as low as 1.7.
Therefore, the total population and number of older adults will be greater over the next decades than it has ever been. This is where developing countries differ from developed ones

Question 9

What factors will be effected by a ageing population?

Answer 9

Workforce
Pensions
Health

Question 10

In what ways is life expectancy measured?

Answer 10

• Life expectancy
• age specific mortality rate
• cohort life expectancy
• period life expectancy
• Disability free expectancy
• healthy life expectancy

Question 11

how quickly is life expectancy increasing in the UK

Answer 11

“At current rates, life expectancy in the UK is increasing at the rate of about two years for each decade that
passes”

Question 12

What are the population projections of the future?

Answer 12

The number of people aged 60 or over is expected to pass the 20 million mark by 2031
• The number of people aged 65+ is projected to rise by nearly 50% in the next 20 years to over 16 million.
• The proportion of people aged 65+ will rise from 17.2% currently to 22.4% in 2032
• The percentage of the total population who are over 60 is predicted to rise from 22% to nearly 29% in 2033 and 31% in 2058.
• By 2083, about one in three people in the UK will be over 60
• The number of people over 85 in the UK is predicted to double in the next 20 years and nearly treble in the next 30 years
• The population over 75 is projected to double in the next 30 years
• Nearly one in five people currently in the UK will live to see their 100th birthday

Question 13

What are the percentages of older people (65+) with a disability ?

Answer 13

Men: 37%
Women:40%

Question 14

How many people will be aged 60+ by 2031?

Answer 14

20 million