Mastery Mondays

“As our body journeys through life, and life journeys on our body….life will leave marks on us too. From the creases of our wrinkles to the birthmarks on our bodies to the tattoos we decide to place.” ― lauren klarfeld

It's no secret your mind and body change as you age. The process starts somewhere in your 30s. Cells begin to die off. Organs work a little less well. This raises your risk for certain diseases and disorders.

But these changes aren't the same for everyone. Genes, lifestyle, and environment all play a role in how you'll feel during your twilight years. And adopting healthy habits early can help you avoid some of these pitfalls.

Here's what's normal — and what's not — as you enter your 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Your brain and cognition — how you think, learn, and remember — change throughout life. That can be a good thing.

The part of your brain in charge of storing vocabulary and general knowledge tends to stay the same or gets stronger with age. And your abstract reasoning skills — the ability to think about complex ideas — stay pretty sharp in most older adults.

But your brain starts to get smaller in your 30s and 40s. That shrinkage speeds up around age 60. On top of less mass, older brains tend to get less blood flow, and the connections between nerve cells slows.

These age-related changes could have some unwanted side effects.

Once you hit 70, your attention span might get a little shorter and some things might be harder to recall. You might search for words, something scientists dub the "tip-of-the-tongue" state. And it can be harder to learn new information, such as a foreign language.

But your brain can adjust for some things. For instance, you might lose nerve cells in one area and grow more in another. Connections in other areas may strengthen. Some experts think this is the key to what we call wisdom.

Some people make it to 90 without serious cognitive decline. On the other hand, about one-third of people 85 or older might get Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia. Some medications or other health conditions may also affect how you think.

It's common to have occasional memory slips as you age. But there's a big difference between misplacing your keys and forgetting what year it is.

Talk to your doctor if you have trouble thinking or remembering things. They'll let you know if it's a normal sign of aging or something more.

A healthy heart can work well at any age. But the shape, strength, and electrical signals of your heart and blood vessels do change over time.

Blood vessels get thicker and stiffer with age. That makes it harder to push blood through your body. Your blood pressure might go up or not stabilize as quickly. You might get dizzy when you stand up.

Around age 60, there tends to be a big decline in "pacemaker" cells. These trigger electrical signals that tell your heart to beat. This slowdown means an older heart can't speed up as fast as a younger one. As a result, you'll notice a dip in your peak heart rate when you're active. Bradycardia, or low heart rate, is also more common in older adults.

The aging process doesn't cause heart and blood vessel problems for everyone. High blood pressure is the most common heart condition for people 75 and older. And heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women.

Tell your doctor if you have shortness of breath, chest pains, or low energy. Let them know if your heart ever feels like it skips a beat. These could be signs of serious health problems.

An aging immune system is slower and less powerful than a younger one.

So you're more vulnerable to inflammatory diseases, infections, cancer, and other things as you age. For this reason, vaccines don't work as well in most people 65 and older.

Scientists have a name for these age-related changes: immunosenescence and inflamm-aging.

While our overall defenses decline with age, there's some evidence that our immune system adapts in a way that might help us live longer. For instance, you store more memory T cells as you get older. Those are white blood cells that can recognize and attack viruses or bacteria that made you sick in the past.

But aging adults tend to have fewer nave T cells. That's the part of your immune system that learns to fight off new germs, like the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Here's how the five senses are impacted by aging:

Parts of your eye get stiffer, denser, yellower, and drier as you get older. In their 40s, almost everyone starts to get blurry close-up vision. By your 60s, you may not see as well in low light, and colors may look less vivid.

Magnifying glasses and other vision aids can help you see better. But tell your doctor if you have sudden changes or you lose part or all of your eyesight. Some people have eye issues that go beyond age-related decline.

Long-term noise exposure can hurt your hearing. But about half of all people older than 75 have age-related hearing loss, or presbycusis. It happens gradually and usually affects both ears equally.

These two senses go hand in hand. And in your 50s, you might notice that some flavors change, especially sweet and salty ones. Some foods might taste bitter or bland. That's partly because your taste buds generally get less sensitive with age, and nerve endings in your nose die off and the lining becomes thinner and drier.

Older skin has fewer nerve endings. You may be less sensitive to pain, temperature, or pressure. That might raise your odds of certain kinds of injuries, such as burns.

But tell your doctor if you have numbness. Some health conditions can damage your sense of touch beyond age-related changes. Some examples include diabetes, Parkinson's disease, mini-strokes, and arthritis.

Your gums might pull back as you get older.

Tooth enamel can wear down, and teeth can become less sensitive. Your mouth can get a little drier. Common medications can sap your saliva even more.

These age-related changes can leave your mouth vulnerable to bacteria and decay. That ups your odds of tooth loss and cavities.

But there are steps you can take to keep your mouth and teeth healthy at any age.

Personal Change

What do you think is the most difficult part of aging?