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!