VA Hospital Counter

 

Pro Vice-Chancellor
(Research & International)

Introduction to Health and Ageing

We are indeed fortunate to live in a country where the physical characteristics are supportive of healthy living (eg: sunshine, fresh air, variety of fresh foods, and vast areas of parklands and beaches). It is paradoxical therefore that the state of our health is not as good as it should be. Many of us have too many:

• visits with a doctor,
• pharmaceuticals dispensed,
• diagnostic tests,
• operations, and
• bed days spent in hospital.

Many of these illnesses can be avoided. However, the 2006 National Health Survey revealed some starting information:

Obesity: We know that obesity increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and a range of other illnesses, yet 52% to 62% of men and 37% to 45% percent of women were classified as obese.

Physical Activity: We know that regular exercise helps keep our heart and blood vessels healthy, our muscles and bones strong, and can also reduce the risk of cancer, yet moderate and vigorous exercise was more common among the younger age groups; and that 54 per cent of adults in the 55-64 and 65-74 year age groups undertook walking for exercise.

Smoking: We are all aware that smoking causes lung cancer and other diseases, yet approximately one in four adults (23%) were smokers in 2004-5; and that 34% of men and 26% of women aged 18-34 years smoked.

Skin Cancer: We are warned that excessive exposure to the sun increases our risk of getting skin caner, yet some Australians forget these warnings and over-expose to the sun. In 2004-05, 62% of people reported that they regularly checked their skin for changes in freckles or moles .

Alcohol: For both men and women, the highest proportions drinking at high risk levels were recorded in the middle age groups, for example, 18% of men and 13% of women in the 55-64 year group.

We can do much more than any medical intervention to main our health and wellbeing but it involves getting into the habit of health. We can feel good and accomplish more with a habit of health.

Health
The habit of health requires a health plan. At the age of 55-60, individuals with good health habits can feel 30 years younger than those with poor health habits; at age 55-60, we can feel a physical age of 65 or 35. It is all up to us.

The major health problems in Australia are due to chronic, long-term illness in middle age and later, as well as accident trauma at a young age. These problems cause the majority of deaths and account for the majority of sicknesses. Two-thirds of the deaths and illnesses can be prevented by developing the habit of health.

It is important to understand the basic nature of chronic illnesses such as atherosclerosis, emphysema, osteoarthritis and cancer. These diseases are universal; most of us have a tendency toward them. While we may differ from each other in the rate of progression toward a particular disease, these conditions progress in our bodies, often for decades, before they cause any symptoms. By the time we start to reach 40, 50 or 60 years, poor health habits of the past begin to catch up on us.

It is important also to keep in mind that while there is an increasing tendency toward these diseases, this tendency can be attenuated as we age and the disease itself prevented if intervention is early enough. The diseases are associated with what are called "risk factors". Risk factors do not cause the disease. They are associated with the tendency to progress toward them. Figure 1.1 below shows the different patterns of disease development in individuals.

Source : Take Care of Yourself by RD Telford, RA Reid, DM Vickery and JA Fries,
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993, (p 4)

An individual who is developing a condition rapidly may progress to symptoms relatively early and may even die from the condition. However, if the condition progresses slowly, there may never be any symptoms during the lifespan. It is important, therefore, to remember that (i) prevention changes the rate of development of disease; and (ii) attention to health risk factors improves the quality as well as quantity of life.

Our goal is to change the rate of unseen progression of the disease from the steepest lines of Figure 1.1 to a less rapid progression.

Many factors now contribute to the increased life expectancy of Australians. Advanced technology and medical research play a role in these increases, but so does social marketing especially public awareness in health, lifestyle, nutrition and exercise. There is always room for more improvement in our quality as well as the quantity of life.

A health plan is basically simple. The plans overlap, but each has its own purpose. A typical master plan for health is given in Table 1.1 below:

Source : Take Care of Yourself by RD Telford, RA Reid, DM Vickery and JA Fries,
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1993, (pp 7)

A typical health plan involves the need to (i) prevent fatal illnesses; (ii) prevent non-fatal illnesses; and (iii) anticipate and prevent problems associated with ageing.

Ageing
A growing understanding of the ageing process has highlighted the importance of the implications of ageing. Ageing, like health, is known to be under an individual's control. To an extent, we can decide how to age: youthfully, gracefully and with quality living.

Like other living beings humans too have an average lifespan. If we do not die of illness or accident, we can live to the end of our lifespan. There are no exceptions to the biological rules that determine the length of life.

We begin the ageing process from the time we are born. The human life span is about 85-90 years with a maximum duration of about 115 years. Intuitively, we recognise that the functioning of our vital organs become less efficient with increasing age, and that eventually these organs will no longer be able to support life. At that time natural death occurs. As disease is prevented by a person (through good health habits) and advanced medical technology life expectancy can be increased. By following good health habits and preventing premature death we can increase life expectancy but we cannot maximise our lifespan.

Often these simple facts are not faced directly. Thus, research into human ageing, the quest for the secrets of longevity and even immortality are continuing. Some predict that we may soon live to be 200 years old because of some magical elixir! However, if all diseases and accidents are eliminated, we will live to the end of our lifespan.

Most scientists still agree that the question of extending the human life span is not possible. Therefore, we must focus efforts on the quality rather than the quantity of life.

Slowing the decline of ageing and staying young is an important aspect of ageing research. How can we improve with age, even in middle or older age, when our maximum ability is decreasing by perhaps two percent each year? The answer is obvious: Practice. If we wish to maintain or improve a skill or function, we must continue to use that skill or function. To this effect, I repeat the phrase "use it or lose it" that we commonly hear.

In this connection, studies show that: (1) training and using the mind can improve scores on intelligence tests, even in individuals over the age of 75; (2) the loss of short-term memory, often associated with ageing, can be reduced by practice in related areas; and (3) reaction times in active people between the age of 60 and 70 can be as quick as those of typical sedentary 20-25 year-olds. Change has been scientifically demonstrated for each of these important features.

Research on the process of ageing is very important, more so as we move from our preoccupations with disease and longevity, these principles represent an approach to the maintenance of a full and vigorous life. Much of this information may be familiar to you, but our aim is to present it in an organised and reasonably detailed way for your reference.

Reliable up-to-date information is crucial. Australians are increasingly turning to the Internet as a source of health information. You may be surprised to learn how many different markers are now available in research to prevent health problems.

For this reason, at ACU, we take a distinctive approach for dissemination of health research information. Our state-of-the-art bulletins offer insights into the new developments and give you the why of disease prevention as well as the how on risk factor reduction. The research reviews are evidence-based on internationally renowned and published scientific investigations; and news broadcasts concern relevant public policy reforms.

Peter H  Wilson
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & International)

24 January 2007