18 Facts About Old age

Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle.

Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly, OAPs, seniors, senior citizens, older adults, and the elders.

Old age is not a definite biological stage, as the chronological age denoted as "old age" varies culturally and historically.

Definitions of old age include official definitions, sub-group definitions, and four dimensions as follows.

In non-Western nations, old age can begin as early as the mid-40s or as late as the 70s.

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Old age cannot be universally defined because it is context-sensitive.

Unlike in the developed world, where chronological age determines retirement, societies in developing countries determine old age according to a person's ability to make active contributions to society.

In British English, the "third Old age" is "the period in life of active retirement, following middle Old age".

The distinguishing marks of old age normally occur in all five senses at different times and at different rates for different people.

The marks of old age are so unlike the marks of middle age that legal scholar Richard Posner suggests that, as an individual transitions into old age, he can be thought of as different people "time-sharing" the same identity.

Basic mark of old age that affects both body and mind is "slowness of behavior".

Early old age can be a pleasant time; children are grown, work is over, and there is time to pursue other interests.

Such erroneous conceptions include people in old age have at least one family member for support, old age well-being requires social activity, and "successful adaptation" to age-related changes demands a continuity of self-concept.

In Western thought, "old age is an evil, an infirmity and a dreary time of preparation for death".

Old age was reckoned as one of the unanswerable "great mysteries" along with evil, pain, and suffering.

Furthermore, disengaging from social ties in old age is not across the board: unsatisfactory ties are dropped and satisfying ones kept.

In opposition to the disengagement theory, the activity theory of old age argues that disengagement in old age occurs not by desire, but by the barriers to social engagement imposed by society.

Originally, the purpose of old age pensions was to prevent elderly people from being reduced to beggary, which is still common in some underdeveloped countries, but growing life expectancies and older populations have brought into question the model under which pension systems were designed.