The ageing process Flashcards
What is the UK’s average life expectancy rising by every decade
2 years
What does geriatric mean
Medicine of ‘Old age’
What is gerontology
The study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of ageing.
What is clinical gerontology
Diagnose and treat conditions common in older, frail people.
What is senescence
The process of deterioration with age.
What is the Hayflick limit
Number of times a normal human cell population with divide before cell division stops.
This is linking to cancer as it stops cell division.
How and where in the layers of skin does the integumentary system age?
In the dermis.
Collagen fibres stiffen, separate and become disorganised, elastic fibres will lose elasticity causing wrinkling and sagging.
What cells cause the skins immune system to decrease
Langerhan cells decreases and macrophages are less efficient.
What causes grey hair
Decrease in functioning melanocytes cause this and uneven skin tone.
What is osteoporosis
80% sufferers are female.
It happens when more calcium is broken down than replaced.
This causes bone weakness and less bone density.
What is kyphosis
An exaggerated forward rounding of the back. More common in older woman
What is osteoarthritis
Degenerative joint disease
Friction at joints causes pain, swelling and stiffness.
What is sarcopenia
Sarcopenia is the age-related progressive loss of muscle mass and strength
At what age does gradual progressive loss of bone mass happen?
After age 30
What happens to the adrenal glands in the ageing process?
Produce less cortisol
Produce less aldsterone - causes urine frequency, and less vasoconstriction
What happens to the pituitary gland as we get older
Decreased production of the human growth hormone.
Increases muscle atrophy.
What happens to the pancreas as we get older
Less insulin is produced
More insulin resistance
Sugar levels increases faster with food and return to normal slower. Causing hypoglycaemia.
What do osteoblasts do
Build up bone
What do osteoclasts do
Chew up bone
Do osteoclasts get more active or less active as we age?
More active, they chew up bone to release calcium into the blood.
What is the connection with the parathyroid glands and calcium
The parathyroid glands have specialised cells which detect levels of calcium.
When calcium levels are low the release a hormone into the body that targets various tissues.
In the presence of the parathyroid hormone, do osteoblasts become more or less active?
Less active
What are the effects of ageing on the nervous system?
Brain mass declines
Information processed more poorly
Decreased voluntary motor movements and reflexes.
What neurotransmitters are decreased in ageing?
Noradrenaline
Glutamate
Serotonin
Dopamine
What is the substantial nigra and what does it produce
It is part of the brain that produces dopamine.
What are some respiratory system changes that occur in the ageing process?
Tidal volume falls.
Chest wall and lungs lose elastic recoil.
Loss of muscle strength in chest wall and diaphragm inhibit breathing deficiency.
What causes more pathogens to enter the lungs in the ageing process?
Reduced cilia and nerves that trigger coughing become less sensitive
What are the vascular changes that occur in the ageing process?
Loss of elasticity
Walls become thicker and sticker leading to more resistance, resulting in HTN.
Hypertrophy
Lower HR and postural HTN.
What is atherosclerosis in the ageing process
Causes narrowing and stiffening of the arteries as they as less flexible.
What is angiogenesis
The production of new blood cells reduces.
What is left ventricle hypertrophy
If the heart has to work too hard to pump, the muscles of the walls of the left ventricle thicken.
This is called hypertrophy.
This makes it harder for the rest of the heart to pump blood efficiently, resulting to lack of oxygen to heart muscle.
Causes arrhythmia.
What are the changes that happen to the digestive system during the ageing process?
Reduction in taste and smell
Gum recession
Decreased saliva production
Decreased strength of oesophageal contraction leads to dysphagia.
What causes diverticulitis in the ageing process
Stomach loses elasticity and empties more.
Stomach lining thins.
Causes inflammation of diverticula.
Causing diverticulitis.
What changes happen to the renal system in the ageing process
Reduction in number on nephrons
Reduction in glomerular filtration rate
Reduced nephron sensitivity causes less reabsorption of water.
Causes more urine.
What causes the likelyhood of UTI’s in females in the ageing process
The shortening of the urethra increases the risk of a UTI.
What happens to the male reproductive system in the ageing process
Gradual loss of fertility
Increased risk of prostate cancer
Reduced testosterone cause shrinkage of penis
Erectile dysfunction
What happens to the female reproductive system in the ageing process
Oestrogen production declines triggering menopause.
Loss of fertility.
Decreased muscular tone in pelvic muscles can cause vaginal and/or uterine prolapse.
