Age is the length of time that a person has lived or a thing has existed. It is an inevitable quantity that moves in only one direction, forward ever and backward never. Advancement in age is generally seen as a blessing but at the same time, it presents a lot of changes and responsibilities, which is why individuals are categorically grouped according to their age. Of course, what is expected from a child is quite different from what is expected from an adult.

Old Age on the other hand is used to describe ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of a man. According to the United Nations, the average global life expectancy is 72.6 years. In many traditions/religion, old age is seen as a blessing, albeit coming with its own disadvantages.

AGE-RELATED DISEASES

Yes it is hard to ignore these disadvantages, one of which is age-related diseases. Age-related diseases are diseases that occurs to an individual as a result of advancement in age. Aging is one of the major risk factors for inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer's disease etc. As people advance in age, they experience loss of muscle mass, decrease in the functionality of the immune system and decrease in the functionality of Sensory organs in the body. For instance, decrease in the functionality of the ear might lead to deafness, decrease in the functionality of the eye or weakness of the lens of the eye might lead to blindness and decrease in the strength of the immune system my lead to invasion of the body by diseases.

DEMENTIA

Dementia is one of the diseases that is quite common amongst aged persons. It is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life.

Growing up as a child, I was opportuned to witness the aging phase of my grandparents. I lived with my Grandmother for the latter stages of her life, she was the best of them all. We were fond of each other and had interesting memories together. When she was a bit younger, she would sit us (I and My Siblings) down and recount the good old memories she had while growing up as a child and as a young independent lady. it was really fun listening to her.

As time went by, she could no longer do the things she normally could, was unable to walk on her own and at a stage began experiencing memory loss (Dementia). It was hard coping with the outcome of the aging process but it was very much expected.

Age related diseases, most of which cannot be cured, impairs adults at old age and if these adults are properly taken care of, their life span would definitely be prolonged.

Have you ever taken care of an aged person, care to share your experience?