Facts on aging andhealth

Adopted from World Health Organization

People worldwide live longer

Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years willnearly double from 12% to 22%

By 2020, the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber childrenyounger than 5 years

Populationaging

Social-economic challange

The peace of population aging is much faster then before

It took France almost 150 years to adoptto a change from 10% to 20% in the

proportion of the population that wasolder then 60 years. China needs 20 years

to make the same adaptation

All countries face major challenges toensure that their health and social

systems are ready to make the most of thisdemographic shift

There are many opportunities forolder people but under one conditions:

HEALTH FACTOR

STOP

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Aging is the result of thedecrease in the numberand/or function of cells

Every time cellsreplicate, telomeres

shorten until they reacha point where the cellscan no longer divide

properly

Cells with such shorttelomeres usually

become senescent orenter apoptosis, and

eventually die

Aging on biological levelAccumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time

Telomeres

Telomeres are the protective caps at the end ofchromosomes which play significant role in the

aging process

Critically short telomeres contribute to the onset of chronic and age-relateddiseases including heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes, some cancers, among other

pathologies.

They carry genetic information and maintainthe integrity of DNA during cellular replication

Thus, telomere length serves as the biomarker of the cell replicative capacity, whichdefines the biological age of the individual

Common health conditionsassociated with aging

Diabetes (especially Type 2)

AtherosclerosisDepression Hearing loss

Central NervousSystem Diseases

Osteoarthritis

Certain CancersChronic obstructive pulmonarydisease

There is a lot of diversity in older age interms of physical and mental capacities

Lifestyle choices make huge impact on how we age

Some 80 year-olds have physical and mentalcapacities similar to many 20 year-olds.

Other people experience significant declinesin physical and mental capacities at much

younger ages

Genetics

Environmental factors

Short telomeres are a contributing factor ofvirtually all age-related diseases

Genetics play a partial role in determiningtelomere length but environmental factors,including individuals' lifestyle choices, play

an even larger role

References:

Fact Sheets-Ageing and Health WTO, September 2015