Does Early Development Influence Aging?

From the instant we are born, we start getting old, but as we get old, do we grow older? We all grow faster than we think and when old age hits, it takes us by surprise. Nothing in life is so inevitable, and yet so unexpected, as the end of it. The seasons of life have a way of changing more quickly than our sense of them. Also the experiences of aging and growing old have come upon us faster than it used to and has changed our ways of viewing it. It is not nearly as bad as people think it will be but not quite as good either.

What is aging? In biology, all organisms undergo a period of development and growth before they become reproductively mature1. In most species, the time of reproductive activity is short and followed closely by death. Aging can be defined as “the period of lifespan characterized by a failure to maintain homeostasis under conditions of physiological stress. The failure is associated with a decrease in viability and an increase in vulnerability of the individual1.” The definition implies that aging occurs in the later part of the lifespan; however, in some instances, early development influences aging as well1.

When Does Old Age

The average masks a wide, age driven variance in responses because in our society, we tend to not think of our chronological age as how old we really are2. Adults under thirty and those who are sixty five or older believe that a person become old before turning sixty five. Gender and the age of a person can influence their opinions because women tend to put a later age when defining when old age begins versus men2. With being a female and only twenty one years old, I often view those who are sixty five and older to be considered old aged adults. Sixty five is the age at which old age sets in because there is noticeable changes both physically and