Longevity, Magazine

Ageing is what you make of it - facts and figures

Article image Alternisteine question of perspective

For some, ageing means loneliness, frailty and dependence. For others, ageing means a second spring, new tasks, a renewed zest for life and time for family.

Ageing can be all that and much more.

If we assume, as an example, that one eats breakfast once a day in the morning, then Jeanne Calmet has eaten breakfast about 44725 times in her life. That corresponds to an incredible age of 122 years and 164 days, making the Frenchwoman the oldest person ever to have lived on our planet. How likely is it that someone will be able to enjoy his or her breakfast cone 201 times more - in other words, live to be 123 years old? The answer is one in ten million centenarians according to a mathematical model from 2019. To put this in perspective: currently (2020) there are around 533,000 people worldwide who are over 100 years old, according to the United Nations.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, life expectancy for a girl born in 2019 is currently 83.3 years and for newborn boys 78.5 years. The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock paints a brighter picture for the future. It predicts that every third newborn girl in this country will have a life expectancy of 100 years or more. Among boys, at least one in ten newborns will be around for at least a century, according to the calculations.

Even if these numbers seem surreal or read like achievements to be proud of, to strive towards, they are still just numbers in the end. It depends on what meaning we attach to these numbers.

When do we start to age?

Growing old is primarily a progressive process of change. However, this process does not start at the age of 60 or 70, but actually already at birth. The elasticity of the lens in the eye, for example, decreases from about 15 years of age. From the age of 20, the skin loses its elasticity; about 10 years later, the intervertebral discs begin to thin - the person shrinks; from the age of 35, hair beautifully slowly develops a grey appearance, and gradually the musculature begins to shrink.

We experience all of this as challenging. One could also describe this time as a constant confrontation with one's own adaptability. Accordingly, ageing is not a one-way street towards degradation because there are gains as well as losses, processes of degradation as well as processes of maturation.

Here again is a brief overview:

From 15: Elasticity of the lens decreases
From 20: Skin loses elasticity
From 30: Intervertebral discs become thinner - we start to shrink
From 35: first hairs turn grey
from 35: beginning muscle atrophy
Banner Infohub Blue Ageing Durability

Ageing goes beyond biology

Minor aches and pains that become major over the years lead to a decline in physical performance. Ageing people become more susceptible to diseases. A multitude of molecular and cellular damages are responsible for this, which can no longer be repaired with the shrinking compensatory power of one's own genetic make-up. Just as there are physical distortions, ageing also affects the social and psychological level.

Time confronts us with the loss of close relationships and changed social roles. A change of role from professional to retired can be accompanied by the loss of one's sense of worth, yet it can also mean a late freedom. Similarly, cognitive decline processes predominantly affect short-term memory or high-speed thinking. Older people often do not experience these changes as a process of decline, but as a phase of adaptation or even maturation and growth.

It is a question of perspective

Just as the glass can be half full instead of half empty, old age is always a question of perspective. It is not the lifetime records and sensational figures of ever-increasing life expectancy that are worth striving for. What is decisive is dealing with the awareness of the transience of strength, vitality and one's own cognitive capacity.

Kane Tanaka from Japan passed away in April 2022 at over 119 years old, making her the third oldest person on the planet. In 2019, when Tanaka received her record for the oldest living person in the world, she was asked about the happiest moment in her long life. Her answer was, "Now."

For some, ageing means loneliness, frailty and dependence. For others, ageing means a second spring, new tasks, a renewed zest for life and time for family. Ageing can be all that and much more. Ultimately, it is what you make of it. If you want to know what MoleQlar makes of it, take a look at the About Us section.

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