The Aging Process

The Aging Process Why should the human body give out after 70, 80, or even 120 years? Why are older people more susceptible to disease, more inclined to have impaired vision and hearing, and likely to lose some of the physical and mental capacity they once enjoyed? There are no fully satisfactory answers to these questions. Although we are mortal, it is entirely possible that one day humans could live much longer. The present potential life span for …

…nerve cells in the spinal cord that control them degenerate with increasing age. But proper exercise can maintain, strengthen, and enlarge the remaining muscle fibers. The skeleton does begin to decrease in size after about age 30. The bones undergo constant changes with remodeling of the bone architecture. This is a regeneration process. After age 30, there is not as much new bone formed as is lost, resulting in a gradual decrease in skeletal size and strength.