Getting Older Doesn’t Mean Getting Weaker. Let’s Rewrite the Story

One of the things that really irritates me is the way the media portrays growing older as a slow drift toward frailty and forgetfulness. This still seems to be the prevailing view, even though science, and my personal experience as a 65-year-old, says otherwise.

The last time we looked at getting older, it was all about your biological clock, epigenetics, and how you can improve your odds of staying healthy.

This month, we’re looking at the natural changes that happen as we get older and what we can do about them. It doesn’t have to be a doom-and-gloom, stuck-in-a-chair, “accept your fate” situation. I’m talking about feeling strong, moving well, and rewriting the narrative around getting older.

The Risks of Getting Older?

We know there are physiological changes that come with age, but they don’t have to be as bad as the media images generally suggest. Something can always be done to slow down these changes and sometimes reverse them.

Muscle Loss (Sarcopenia)

One of the first things to look at is sarcopenia, which describes the gradual loss of muscle mass and strength. Between the ages of 30 and 60, the average adult loses about 250g of muscle each year. At age 70, muscle loss accelerates to about 15% per decade. This process can really speed up once you get past 60, although the rate of change isn’t just due to ageing but other factors such as physical inactivity, chronic diseases, and poor nutrition.

Recent UK research shows that sarcopenia affects around 1 in 10 elderly people, with poor musculoskeletal health being one of the leading causes preventing people aged 60-64 from working.

Bone Density

Next on the list is bone density, which naturally reduces as we get older in both men and women. It becomes more of a problem in postmenopausal women due to reduced levels of oestrogen, the key hormone responsible for controlling the breakdown and rebuilding of your bones. As oestrogen levels reduce, bone is broken down faster than it’s built, often leading to osteoporosis, where reduced density increases the risk of fractures.

Current UK statistics show that osteoporosis affects over 3 million people, with 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men over 50 at risk of breaking a bone because of it. Oestrogen plays the same role in men, although the mechanisms are less well understood and there’s no equivalent of menopause; low levels can cause similar problems.

Joint Stiffness

Joint stiffness is another one of those problems that creeps up on us as we get older. A 2011 American study shows that 30% of adults report joint stiffness, aches, or pain, with 50% of those being over 75 years of age.

Age-related changes to joints can result in decreased synovial fluid (your joints’ WD40) and thinning cartilage, which contribute to stiffness. A lack of exercise makes things worse, as movement stimulates the production of synovial fluid—which is why movement is medicine.

Balance and Falls

The last thing to look at is balance, which is important because falls are the leading cause of injury-related deaths among older adults. Around a third of people aged 65 and over, and around half of people aged 80 and over, fall at least once a year. In the UK, over 5,000 older people die each year from falls, particularly those over 75.

Falls are mainly dangerous due to fractures, especially where hip surgery has already taken place or osteoporosis is present. Following a fall, additional problems can include loss of independence, and fear of another fall might cause social withdrawal and a reluctance to go out. The factors increasing the risk of a fall are complicated and include reduced muscle strength, poor visual vision, and problems with the vestibular system, which manages the position and movement of your head.

While ageing is inevitable, your lifestyle choices can manage the rate and degree of any decline, and that’s something we can control.