Activity Theory Of Aging

The Measured Life

The group is part of a rapidly growing movement of fitness buffs, techno-geeks, and patients with chronic conditions who obsessively monitor various personal metrics. At the center of the movement is a loosely organized group known as the Quantified Self , whose members are driven by the idea that collecting detailed data can help them make better choices about their health and behavior. In meetings held all over the world, self-trackers discuss how they use a combination of traditional spreadsheets, an expanding selection of smart-phone apps, and various consumer and custom-built devices to monitor patterns of food intake, sleep, fatigue, mood, and heart rate.

Of course, self-tracking is not new. Many athletes have been meticulously monitoring personal metrics for decades. And some people with chronic conditions such as migraines, diabetes, and allergies have done the same in an effort to shed light on how daily habits may influence their symptoms. But new consumer tools have made self-tracking both simpler and more rigorous, generating reams of data that can be scrutinized for patterns and clues. The new devices, along with the increasing ease of sharing data with other users through social-networking sites, mean that more and more people are finding it useful to quantify their lives. The Zeo, a $199 device based on technology that until recently required the services of a trained technician, makes it easy for users to track their sleep cycles. The device consists of a soft headband with a fabric sensor that wirelessly transmits EEG data to a bedside monitor. A programmable alarm clock wakes the wearer at the optimal phase of sleep. And each night's data can be uploaded to a computer, where users can study how their sleep is affected by environmental factors such as weather, light, and more.

Sanjiv Shah, a longtime insomniac who participates in the Boston group, believes that wearing orange-tinted glasses for several hours before bed makes it easier for him to fall asleep. (The theory is that the orange tint blocks blue light, which has been shown in both human and animal studies to influence circadian rhythms.) To quantify the effects, he used not only the Zeo but also a thumb-size device called the Fitbit, which incorporates an accelerometer that measures movement, and a camera trained on his bed to record his sleep for a month. His results: without the glasses, he took an average of 28 minutes to fall asleep, but with them he took only four.

Centenarians And Theories Of Aging - Term Paper - Samanthajones123

Centenarians and Theories of Aging

Centenarian: A person who has lived 100 years or more. Less than 1% of the world population is centenarians. Young adults need to be reminded that ageism makes people notice exceptions rather general truths. Surprisingly, researchers who study centenarians find that some are active and in good health, hoping to live several more years. Furthermore, although many people older than 100 are impaired, most of them, with or without disabilities, are content, even happy. According to every study of centenarians, the idea that older people are suffering, sad, and irritable is contrary to the evidence.

Nonetheless, most scientists agree with Hayflick that anti-aging is delusional. Some go farther: They fear that trying to stop senescence not only wastes time and money but also undermines health. As a leading physician wrote:

I consider the fixation on anti-aging and life extension to be a distraction from the important goal of healthy aging. That is, we should concentrate on making positive lifestyle choices now-eating better, exercising more, getting enough sleep, even improving our mental state- so that we can enjoy not just a longer life but a healthier one. Such a life would also end in due course, but the decline would be rapid. The scientific term for this is compression of morbidity, literally squeezing the period of disability and decline at the end of life into as short a period as possible. Live long and well, then have a rapid drop-off at the end.

In our book, page 510, there is an article, A View from Science, “Trying to live past the Maximum”. “A large number of genes have been isolated and identified that influence aging and longevity in nematodes (microscopic worm), fruit flies and rodents. In humans as well, several alleles (any of several forms of a gene, usually arising through mutation, that are responsible for hereditary variation) are called longevity genes: people who inherit them live to 90, 100, or...

Handbook of theories of aging

Encyclopedia of Aging and Public Health

Toward healthy aging, human needs and nursing response

Communication and aging

Aging, Concepts and Controversies