Assessment item 1 - Health and Wellness in Later Life

Running head: ESSAY
Assessment item 1 - Health and wellness in later life
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[NAME]

1ESSAY
Introduction- Ageing processes are described as those that result in an increase in the
vulnerability of people, with an increase in age, to different factors that directly contribute to
death. Ageing is a multifaceted phenomenon and encompasses a deleterious, intrinsic and
progressive process in all organisms (Beard et al., 2016). In all human beings, ageing
provides a representation of the build-up of modifications in the individual over time, and
comprises of different psychological, physical, and social changes. Two intrinsic parameters
of ageing are maximum and average lifespan. This essay will elaborate on the concepts of
wellness and health, as they correlate to the process of ageing.
Ageing theories- There are numerous theories that have evolved to enhance the
understanding of ageing phenomenon. According to the mutation accumulation theory, late-
acting detrimental mutations generally gather in a population and eventually result in
pathology, followed by senescence (Rodríguez et al., 2017). This theory considered ageing as
a non-adaptive trait. In contrast, the immunologic theory proposed that normal procedure of
ageing in animals and human is associated to a fault in the immune procedure (Ashley &
Holgado, 2019). It highlighted that the immune system’s functional capacity deteriorates with
age, characterised by decreased T cell response, and that there occurs an increase in
autoimmunity phenomena with age. While the error catastrophic theory postulated that an
error in molecular copying procedure leads to defective synthesis of protein that accumulate
with age and cause cellular dysfunction, thus leading to senescence, the free radical theory
stated that accumulation of free radical during aerobic respiration lead to oxidative damage,
ageing and death (Milholland, B., Suh & Vijg, 2017; Pomatto & Davies, 2018).
Difference between age related mind and body changes in ageing and illness- The
impacts of ageing on cognition and the brain are prevalent and have numerous aetiologies.
According to Donato, Machin and Lesniewski (2018) ageing creates an impact on cells,
molecules, gross morphology, and vasculature. With an increase in age, the volume of the
brain shrinks, predominantly in frontal cortex. With ageing of the vasculature, there also
occurs an increase in blood pressure, thereby increasing risk of ischemia and stroke, and
lesions develop in the white matter. Ageing is also accompanied by memory decline and the
brain activation gradually becomes bilateral, in relation to memory tasks (Wang, Daselaar &
Cabeza, 2017). General age related changes in mind comprise of thinning of the cortical
density owing to deterioration in synaptic connections that lead to decreased cognitive
processing. Moreover, the myelin also shrinks with age, and the brain produces lesser
neurotransmitters with ageing and this decline in acetylcholine, dopamine, and
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norepinephrine and serotonin activity increases depression and memory problems (Forbes &
Gallo, 2017). In contrast, when people suffer from illness like brain trauma, the neurons,
tissues and nerves typically get damaged, thereby affecting the ability of the brain to
communicate with the organs. Similarly, in case of mental illness like depression, the
production of the neurotransmitter serotonin decreases (Grieve et al., 2019). Likewise, there
occurs disruption in neurotransmitter glutamate, dopamine and norepinephrine amid those
suffering from schizophrenia, in addition to decreased neural processing efficacy.
Majority of the age related physiological functions peak prior to 30 years of age, and
progressively decline later. With an increase in age, the elasticity of blood vessels get lost,
concomitant with accumulation of fatty deposits against walls of the arteries, thus the heart
has to exert more effort while pumping blood (Steenman & Lande, 2017). This leads to
hardening of arteries and hypertension. There occurs a shrinkage of the bones in their density
and size and loss of bones increases the risk of fractures. The tendons, muscles and joints also
lose flexibility and strength (Wright & Tejpar, 2018). In addition to difficulty in swallowing
due to less forceful contraction of the oesophagus, the secretions of the stomach that help in
digestion also get decreased (Yang et al., 2019). Kidneys also lose their efficiency in
eliminate waste from the body as they lose their cells. Furthermore, impairment also occurs in
vision and hearing and the skin often becomes more brittle and dry. In contrast, while those
diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome of diabetes mellitus report a decrease in insulin
hormone production from the beta cells of the pancreas, people suffering from coronary
artery disease report blockage or narrowing of the coronary arteries owing to atherosclerosis
(Zaccardi et al., 2016). People diagnosed with the illness Gastroesophageal Reflux
Disease (GERD) report movement of food, fluids or acidic stomach juices into the
oesophagus from the stomach (Richter & Rubenstein, 2018). Thus, there are major
differences in the mind and body during ageing and illness.
Factors- There are countless factors that define wellbeing and illness in a human.
Heredity is the first factor since the genes govern health and predisposition to particular
illnesses. The risk of a particular genetic disease augments if a parent carries the abnormal,
dysfunctional gene, even he/she is a non-symptomatic carrier. Several diseases like diabetes
or asthma imitate the interaction between environment and genes (Ukraintseva et al., 2016).
Lifestyle factors such as, the eating and drinking habits or physical activity govern health and
wellbeing. There are several illnesses such as, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular problems
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that are associated to sleep deprivation, drug abuse, smoking and alcohol consumption
(Tamez et al., 2018).
The environment in which people live and grow has strong impacts on their health.
Factors like water quality, air quality and climate influence the onset and progress of different
illnesses like asthma, emphysema, COPD, diarrhoea and cholera. According to Asmal et al.
(2019) psychological factors like abuse also play a role in the development of psychiatric
disorders at a later stage like depression, schizophrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder,
thereby affecting the mental and emotional development. Socioeconomic status, educational
attainment and employment are largely responsible for health and wellbeing since those
belonging to high socioeconomic background and are employed are better able to access
healthcare facilities and resources, thus having better quality of life (Williams, Priest &
Anderson, 2016). Poor financial condition and unemployment leads to poor nutrition and
makes people more prone to air and water-borne diseases. In addition, high educational
attainment ensures high health literacy, thus helping people effectively manage their health
and wellbeing (Friis et al., 2016). Physiological factors are often a combination of lifestyle
and genetic factors. Being obese and overweight, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure,
and high blood glucose also increase the susceptibility of people to chronic diseases.
Social model of health- This model provides a holistic and distinctive description and
awareness of health that extends farther from the reductionism and limits correlated with
medical model of health. It defines health not as the condition of being exclusively under the
area of the medical occupation, nor is illness and health made comprehensible by conclusions
obtained from medical science (Lehman, David & Gruber, 2017). In contrast, it focuses on a
perspective of health that places emphasis on different characteristics of human experience,
thereby associating health with the dynamic interaction of personified human agencies and
social structures. It has been developed from the social model of disability and informs the
concepts discussed previously since it examines all factors that directly contribute to health
like political, cultural, social, and environmental.
Conclusion- To conclude, ageing at the biological level can be accredited to the
effects of accumulation of a plethora of cellular and molecular damage over time. This in turn
brings about a gradual decline in the mental and physical capacity, thus snowballing the risk
of suffering from illnesses, and eventually leading to death. However, these alterations are
neither consistent nor linear and are only correlated with the age of the person in years. Apart
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from biological modifications, there also exists a significant association of ageing with
environmental factors as well. Although several changes occur in the physiological
functioning, in addition to the brain with an increase in age, when a person suffers from
illness, the changes are different. Thus, it can be stated this time-associated decline in
physiological functions is imperative for survival of human beings.
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