Lao Tzu once said that life and death are
one thread, the same line viewed from different
sides.
Everyone ages.
It’s the body’s natural reaction to being
around for so long on this earth.
Specifically, it’s a result of a breakdown
or an inability for your body to create new
cells.
It’s an inevitable fact of life that old
age will get the best of us.
So don't fight it, embrace it!
Today we're going to talk about all the awesome
things that happen when you age!
But first, click that subscribe button and
hit that notification bell as well!
And now, without further ado, let's talk the
facts of aging.
Fact About Aging Number 1: Why Do You Get
Grey Hair?
One very obvious sign of aging is when our
hair starts to turn grey.
This isn’t always the case when our hair
turns grey, there may be other facts as a
result, so why then does hair turn grey?
In order to answer this question, we need
to know what gives hair its color in the first
place.
Our hair is made up of cells called melanocyte.
These cells are located inside of our skin,
and they produce melanin that gives our skin,
eyes, and yes, our hair its color.
When our hair starts to turn grey as a sign
of aging, according to researchers, this is
because the melanocytes in your hair follicles
are beginning to fail to produce melanin.
Thus, they fail to produce hair color.
Although it’s a classic story in history,
hair color change cannot necessarily be proven
by certain stress factors or ‘holy sightings’
as what happened to Moses after he stepped
down from Mount Sinai.
However, hair follicles can be damaged as
a result of injury, which sometimes results
in a small patch of white hair on the scalp.
Other diseases like Vitiligo or Alopecia may
also result in loss of pigment in the hair.
Despite popular belief, you cannot ‘give’
yourself grey hair unless you purposefully
dye it.
Plucking hairs, over-dying, or certain lifestyle
choices have no real bearing on whether or
not your hair turns grey.
The one true factor that you can thank for
your grey hairs is genetics.
Taking a long hard look at your family, including
your parents and their parents will tell you
more about your own hair.
When it comes to something like baldness,
those genetics are usually inherited from
your mother, but other things might be a factor.
Just be thankful that if your hair is turning
grey, that at least you still have your hair!
Fact About Aging Number 2: Gerontophobia.
We know that some people are uneasy with the
idea of getting old, but did you know that
there are actually people who actually fear
it?
Gerontophobia is not just the fear of getting
old, but it's the fear of old people in general.
Most people blame Ageism for this fear and,
unfortunately, the prejudice is becoming more
common.
Experts on aging populations, the WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION, said that ageism is becoming
more prevalent than racism or sexism... possibly.
They said: "Ageism – discrimination against
a person on the basis of their age – has
serious consequences for older people and
societies at large.
Ageism can take many forms, including prejudicial
attitudes, discriminatory practices, or policies
that perpetuate ageist beliefs.
It can obstruct sound policy development,
and it can significantly undermine the quality
of health and social care that older people
receive."
It's obviously bad to fear or hate some one
for some thing they can't control, like their
age.
Remember Bestie viewers, judge people based
on their character, not how old they are.
Fact About Aging Number 3: More And More Old
People.
If you've got Gerontophobia, then you're not
going to like this one: more and more old
people are showing up on the planet.
No, old people aren't a race of aliens that
are invading us, it's just the people who
are just beginning their winter years are
going to become elderly soon.
The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION says that "The
number of people aged 60 years or older will
rise from 900 million to 2 billion between
2015 and 2050 (moving from 12% to 22% of the
total global population).
"
How will this affect us in the future?
Not favorably, at least that's what experts
think.
According to THE CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION,
the resulting expansion in the population
of the elderly might be catastrophic.
They begin by talking about how "The aging
of Canada’s population is expected to have
a major impact on the country’s economy,
society and health care system over the next
25 to 30 years."
They go on to say that "Though age does not
automatically mean ill health or disability,
the risk of both does increase as people age.
In 2006, 33% of Canadians aged 65 or older
had a disability; the proportion climbed to
44% among people aged 75 or older.
Nearly three-quarters of Canadians over 65
have at least one chronic health condition."
Essentially what they're saying is because
Canada's health care is free, the aging population
might take a toll on that system.
Fact About Aging Number 4: No Bones About
It.
For those of you who don't know, we actually
start out life with three hundred and fifty
bones in our bodies.
However, did you know that over the years
that number actually goes down?
Through out our lives, we actually lose about
one hundred and forty four bones, bringing
the total down to about 206.
Don't worry, we're not losing our bones to
some evil fairy either.
Scientists report that we go from three hundred
and fifty to one hundred and forty four because
our bones fuse together.
Honestly, we think the bone stealing fairy
sounds a little less creepy than that.
But why do our bones fuse together?
Well, the BBC has an answer for that.
According to them "The skeleton of a newborn
baby is made up of more than 300 parts, most
of which are made of cartilage.
Over time, most of this cartilage turns into
bone, in a process called ossification.
As the baby grows, some of its bones fuse
together to form bigger bones.
By adulthood, your skeleton contains just
206 bones."
So really, it's absolutely natural and not
at all weird and gross that your bones start
to merge together.
Fact About Aging Number 5: You Get Wiser,
Less Stressed And All Sorts Of Other Great
Stuff.
Hey, this video isn't all about destroying
health care systems and losing bones.
There are a lot of great stuff about getting
older too.
For starters, you're wiser than you've ever
been in your old age.
After all your life experience, you have all
this information that you can share about
life.
Not just because you know it from some book,
but because you lived it.
And while yes, your brain may be slower keep
in mind that speed isn't every thing.
The NEW YORK TIMES reported on the link between
wisdom and age, saying "A recent study in
Topics in Cognitive Science pointed out that
older people have much more information in
their brains than younger ones, so retrieving
it naturally takes longer.
And the quality of the information in the
older brain is more nuanced.
While younger people were faster in tests
of cognitive performance, older people showed
“greater sensitivity to fine-grained differences,”
the study found."
Young people, next time your grand parents
have some thing to say, it's probably in your
best interest to listen.
You'll also get nicer as you grow old.
We know the stereotype of the grumpy old man,
but tests have determined that it's just that–
a stereotype.
A piece of research reported on by the AMERICAN
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION discovered that
"Agreeableness, a trait associated with being
warm, generous and helpful, bucked the theory
that personalities don't change after 30.
On the contrary, people in the study showed
the most change in agreeableness during their
30s and continued to improve through their
60s."
So when you're old, you probably won't be
yelling at teenagers in the streets, which
is good news.
And, if you're not a morning person, then
you soon will be!
According to research, "Our sleeping patterns
can shift as we age, so we get sleepier earlier
and wake up earlier.
That seems to work out well.
One study showed that even though folks over
65 tend to wake up during the night, most
said they regularly get a good night’s sleep."
So, if you've always wanted to be a morning
person, then you've got your wish!
Go out and seize the day!
Finally, reports have shown that in your old
age, you have much less stress.
A recent scientific study reported on by TIME
MAGAZINE found that "Older people were physically
more disabled and had more cognitive impairment
than younger ones—the natural deterioration
of aging—but in mental health, the advantage
flipped.
People in their 20s and 30s reported having
the highest levels of depression, anxiety
and stress, plus the lowest levels of happiness,
satisfaction and wellbeing.
Older people, surprisingly, were the happiest."
So you can finally rest easy about aging!
After all, it doesn't sound all that bad,
does it?
And so, our list of all the cool things about
old age is complete.
What did you think of our list?
Did you learn some thing about growing old?
Did we alleviate your fears, or just make
them worse?
Did we miss any thing?
Let us know in the comments section below
all your facts about getting older!
