A huge number of people are aging now. And every year the number of elderly people will only increase. Why it happens? And all because every day the number of children born increases. After some 70 years, they will all grow old, which will lead to an even greater urgency of the problem of aging and everything connected with it. All these issues are covered by gerontology. What kind of science is this? She studies the problems of aging people and everything that accompanies them.
Some call it a full-fledged science, while others call it a whole subsection of medicine. Truth, as they say, is somewhere in between. And this is true, because it is impossible to consider, for example, the health of older people in isolation from their psychology and interaction with society. By the way, the issues of socialization of older people are considered by a science called social gerontology. We will discuss this later. Now let's take a closer look at the science of aging.
Gerontology - what kind of science is this?
Gerontology is a field of scientific knowledge that studies human aging and life extension mechanisms: both physiological and psychological. As for the treatment of elderly people, geriatrics as a subsection of gerontology is engaged in this. In general, the subject of this science is wide enough, which allows it to be made full. Gerontology deals with the following problems:
- Treatment of the elderly.
- Exploring the most common causes of death among older people.
- The study of age-related features associated with human aging.
- The study of the interaction of older people with society and different age categories in it.
- Studying the demographic dynamics of older people.
- Research on issues related to life expectancy.
As you can see, the scope of gerontology is wide enough, which creates a wonderful basis for the formation of a favorable society with a long life expectancy. More and more important in the world is gerontology. What triggered this? The reason for this is very simple. Gerontology is a really important science in the world today. The more a person is able to work, the better for the whole world. And considering that pensioners are more hardworking than youth, this can significantly affect the positive aspects of public life. Let's look at some aspects related to gerontology in more detail.
Elderly diseases
A person can genetically live up to 120 years. We can find confirmation of this not only in the writings of gerontologists, but also in the Bible. As you can see, in this case, religion says the same thing as science. In other cases, allegories are actively used, but this is another topic. How many pensioners live in the world? Maximum, up to 100 years. And if a person was able to live up to 90 or even up to 80, then he is already considered a long-liver. And the question of achieving such a great life expectancy is dealt with by gerontology. What can this provide? Scientists are thinking about this question, and they are already finding a little answer.
Why do people die so early? The reason for this is that they have diseases that make their health worse. What are the most common diseases? In the first place, the cardiovascular system, which is the most vulnerable place of a person, suffers. Therefore, a heart attack or ischemia at a considerable age is a common thing, albeit an unpleasant one. The musculoskeletal system and respiratory system also suffer. Concomitant pathologies may also occur. Very often, several diseases arise at once, which only worsens the prognosis.
Age features of aging and old people
Old people have many age-related psychological characteristics. In this case, gerontology has very close ties with developmental psychology, which also studies this topic. This may also include diseases of the elderly, which are directly related to psychology. So, one of these is Alzheimer's disease or any other dementia, which is characterized by dementia acquired.
This disease develops rather slowly, but confidently. You can only slightly delay its development, if preventive measures are followed. Its course begins with the fact that a person has problems with memory. Very often this is called senile sclerosis, but when it comes to the far stages of the disease, it is called insanity.
Accordingly, it all depends on the stage at which the person is. This disease lasts about ten years, after which the patient becomes so lazy (this phenomenon in the medical language is called abulia) that he has no desire to make even the slightest movement. Most often, Alzheimer's patients die from pneumonia, which appears against a background of prolonged lying on their backs.
As you can see, developmental psychology is directly related to gerontology and medicine.
Relationship with society
In this case, we consider how an older person behaves in society. This is also somewhat similar in relation to the subject of study with age-related psychology, where also the range of interests includes personal changes related to the aging of a person. With the same Alzheimer's disease, the personality sphere can suffer greatly. So, an older person may be characterized by a certain aggressiveness. It occurs for many reasons. Aspects of relations between an elderly person and society are explored by social gerontology.
Another reason for aggressive behavior in society
In addition, with this disease, the human brain suffers significantly, so anything can happen. Another reason for aggressiveness may be the realization of one's own incompetence in what turned out very well earlier. For example, a person used to be able to write, but now he is losing this skill. All this negatively affects how an individual behaves with people around him. However, the behavior can become friendly. Social gerontology is trying to establish causes and patterns.
What institutions in Russia deal with gerontology
The Gerontology Institute is a scientific, scientific and educational institution that devotes itself to the study of issues related to human aging. In Russia there are several such educational institutions that have established themselves quite well. This, for example, the Institute of Gerontology and Bioregulation. The first word in the name we understood. But what is bioregulation? This is how the body maintains the constancy of its internal environment, functions. It is the deterioration of bioregulation that is a consequence of age-related changes. Therefore, bioregulation and gerontology are inextricable things. This question is being studied by this institute of gerontology.