Middle Adulthood Physical and Cognitive Development Flashcards
Defining Middle Age
Defining Middle Age
•Life expectancy: 77.6 years
•Middle age statistically: 39 years but typically middle age defined as later
By middle age, females begin to outlive males – trend continues into the late stages of life
•Human body like a machine: does not function as well as when it was new!
●Organs less efficient
Vision Changes
Vision Changes
•Presbyopia: normal condition: eye lens begins to harden, lose ability to accommodate. Symptoms: tired eyes, headaches, trouble reading at close range
- Adaptation to dark, glare harder
- Also decreased: distance acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual search, and pattern recognition.
Glaucoma: increased pressure caused by fluid buildup in eye, can lead to blindness if untreated
- Cataracts: clouding of the lens. Need surgery, then glasses.
- Floaters: annoying floating spots. May indicate retinal detachment.
- Dry Eye: decreased tears, need drops.
Macular Degeneration: thinning of the layers of the retina and/or rupturing of tiny blood vessels. Symptoms: faded, distorted or blurred central vision.
•Visual problems may be caused by a diet high in saturated fat (reduces blood flow to eyes)
●Smoking
●To avoid: lots of fruits and veggies
Presbyopia
Presbyopia: normal condition: eye lens begins to harden, lose ability to accommodate.
Symptoms: tired eyes, headaches, trouble reading at close range
Glaucoma
Glaucoma: increased pressure caused by fluid buildup in eye, can lead to blindness if untreated
damage caused by pressure on optic nerve
Cataracts
Cataracts: clouding of the lens. Need surgery, then glasses.
affects 30-50% of individuals age 65+
Can appear in individuals in late 50’s
surgical removal of lens then use glasses.
Floaters
•Floaters: annoying floating spots. May indicate retinal detachment.
particals suspended in gel-like fluid of the eyeball;
laser surgery to remove.
Dry Eye
•Dry Eye: decreased tears, need drops.
occurs in individuals who look at a computer screen, long readers
Macular Degeneration
Macular Degeneration: thinning of the layers of the retina and/or rupturing of tiny blood vessels.
Symptoms: faded, distorted or blurred central vision.
leading cause of visual impairment and legal blindness in people 50+
Visual problems may be caused by….
•Visual problems may be caused by a diet high in saturated fat (reduces blood flow to eyes)
●Smoking
●To avoid: lots of fruits and veggies
Prediction of doubling of visual problems in future due to diets high in saturated fat
Hearing Problems
Hearing Problems
•Changes in hearing: around age of 30
- Presbycusis: decreased ability to hear high pitched sounds
- Hearing loss can be caused by cumulative exposure to loud noise
Even a mild hearing loss can affect cognitive function since areas of the brain are reallocated to hearing instead of intellectual processes.
Audiology testing by audiologists determines extent/type of hearing loss.
How can it impact occupation?
Presbycusis
Presbycusis: decreased ability to hear high pitched sounds
Taste and Smell Problems
Taste and Smell Problems
•Taste buds replaced at a slower rate
- Sense of smell also begins to decline
- May increase likelihood of gaining weight by adding more and more fat and salt to diet to compensate
Appearance
Appearance
•Gums begin to recede periodontal disease loss of teeth
•Hair thins, grays
•Skin becomes dryer, thinner and less elastic; wrinkles (from sun exposure).
●Wrinkles, droopy eyelids, age spots.
●Skin loses collagen, fat, oil glands
•Men look “mature, sophisticated”
Women look “old, tired”
Flossing, tooth brushing and dental visits can preserve teeth, tooth loss and appearance of face
Smokers have more wrinkles
At this age, important to monitor skin for scaly patches (basal cell carcinoma) or melanoma (tumor – bleed, darken, itch).
Coping with Changing Appearance
Coping with Changing Appearance
•Women who were hugged, kissed and cuddled when younger accept their bodies
•Women who were active when younger are more positive
●athletes
•Women who were very attractive have a harder time
Changes in balance, mass, strength
May turn to cosmetic surgery –
Top female surgeries: liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, nose reshaping, tummy tucks.
Top male surgeries: liposuction, nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, face lifts
Body Composition
Body Composition
•Around age 30, muscles begin to atrophy, which can diminish strength, agility, and endurance.
- Weight gain becomes more pronounced as muscles diminish
- Can be prevented with resistance training, weight lifting
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
•A disorder of thinning bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue
- Women at greater risk, should take calcium supplements after age 35
- Also, weightbearing exercise, decrease caffeine and alcohol (diuretics)
Takes years to advance to a stage of detection. Decline of estrogen is contributing factor to bone loss.
Men have 30% more bone mass at age 35 than females and slower loss.
Osteoarthritis with joint inflammation that results in cartilage degeneration and friction between the bones. Causes chronic pain, functional limitations.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid Arthritis
•An inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function of the joints
- May also have fatigue and fever
- An autoimmune disease
- Treatment: pain relief, rest/exercise balance, patient education.
Autoimmune disease – person’s own immune system attacks it’s own body tissue
Menopause and Female
Midlife Change
Menopause and Female
Midlife Change
•Menopause: A process culminating in the cessation of menstrual activity
•Perimenopause: The time period preceding menopause
- Climacteric: Changes in the ovaries and hormonal processes over 2-5 years before complete cessation of menstruation
- Postmenopause: No menstrual cycle for 1 year
- Biggest change: huge drop of estrogen
- Between 45 and 55, average age: 51
Menopause
Menopause: A process culminating in the cessation of menstrual activity
Perimenopause
Perimenopause: The time period preceding menopause
Climacteric
Climacteric: Changes in the ovaries and hormonal processes over 2-5 years before complete cessation of menstruation
Postmenopause
Postmenopause: No menstrual cycle for 1 year
Menopause Symptoms
Menopause Symptoms
•Hot flashes - sudden reddening or heating of face, neck and upper back, may produce sweating; a few minutes.
- Night sweats, which may disrupt sleep and lead to insomnia.
- Pain during intercourse, thinning of vaginal tissues and loss of lubrication.
- Increased nervousness, anxiety, or irritability.
- Need to urinate more often, at night.
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) •A regimen to: ● maintain cardiovascular fitness ● slow bone loss ● maintain sexual desire ● slow memory loss •Studies in early 2000s found:
●May increase incidence of breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, blood clots?
•Are we “medicalizing” menopause?
Male Midlife Change
Prostate gland:
Male Midlife Change
•Prostate gland:
●enlargement of this gland located at the base of the urethra.
●10% of men over 40
•Prostatitis: inflammation of prostate
●discomfort, pain, frequent/infrequent urination, fever
•Cancer of the prostate: Most common malignant cancer in North America
●Impotence: the inability to have or sustain an erection (half of men over 40)
PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test used to identify cancer
Male Midlife Change
Male Midlife Change
•Testosterone declines
•Loses muscle, bone mass and height
•Erectile Dysfunction caused by many possible factors – physical, medication, stress, social habits.
Through midlife may experience fatigue, increase in fat mass, decrease in sex drive, erectile dysfunction, sleep disturbances, some cognitive dysfunctions
Assessing Health Changes
Assessing Health Changes
•See book pages 488-489 for schedule of checkups for men and women
Other health related issues
Other health related issues
•Sleep
•Cardiovascular fitness- hypertension
●140/90 high, 120/80 normal
•Cholesterol
●HDL- good cholesterol cleans blood vessels
●LDL- bad cholesterol, builds up and clogs arteries
Sexual Functioning
Sexual Functioning
•Stereotype: erotic interest by older adults: unnatural and undignified
•Reality: Age does not eliminate sexual desire
•Changes:
●Longer to achieve erection for men
●Frequency of sexual activity declines
Consider the role of OT?
The Brain
The Brain
•Staying sharp: continue to problem solve and learn new things, challenge oneself
•Alzheimer’s Disease: most likely after 65, begins slowly as forgetfulness
●Physical exercise can prevent
●Signs: confusion, disorientation with everyday tasks
7-8 hours of sleep recommended at this age.
Cross-sectional study (snapshot of population) shows peak IQ in 20’s remains stable for a couple of decades, then drops dramatically.
Longitudinal research method different for results – overall IQ tens to rise until mid-50’s then gradually declines.
Fluid versus Crystallized Intelligence
Cognitive Functioning
•Fluid versus Crystallized Intelligence
●Fluid intelligence: the ability to make original adaptations in novel situations
●Crystallized intelligence: the abilities learned in from education and experience
Dialectical Thinking (related to post-formal operations)
Dialectical Thinking (related to post-formal operations)
•More open-ended, multiple solutions are sought, examined and probed
•No one right answer
•Merits of different points of view
•Life experience to see both sides
Chronological/legal age
Chronological/legal age – was where one was in life course
Subjective/personal age
Subjective/personal age – how young or old a person perceives self to be
Intelligence views/definition:
Intelligence views/definition:
Binet – inherited from parents, can be measured by testing
Piaget – progressive stages building on each other; culminating with formal operation thought
Gardner – information-processing view that individuals vary in multiple intelligences (verbal, math, art, music). Some show decline (performance), others don’t (verbal)
Fluid
Fluid – abstract reasoning tested with non-word tests (mazes, block designs, picture arrangements) culture-free, based on genetics/neurological structures.
Crystallized
Crystallized – acquired by formal education/social experiences measured by achievement tests, individual awareness of concepts/vocabulary terms of science, math, social studies, English literature.
