The elderly age according to WHO classification is how much? What is the age of the elderly?

Everyone knows that the elderly is someone who is no longer young, who begins to grow old. Then in the human body there are irreversible changes. However, graying hair, wrinkles and shortness of breath do not always indicate the onset of old age. But how to determine the very age when a person can be ranked as an elderly person?

Different time - different opinions?

Once it was believed that the elderly age is when a person has exceeded 20. We remember many vivid historical examples when young people entered into marriage, having barely reached the age of 12-13 years. By the standards of the Middle Ages, a woman at the age of 20 was considered an old woman. However, today is not the Middle Ages. Much has changed.

Later this number changed several times and young people began to be considered twenty years old. It is this age that symbolizes the beginning of an independent life, which means prosperity, youth.

Modern views on age

In modern society, everything is changing somehow. And today, most of the young people, without a second thought, will classify those who have barely crossed the thirty-year mark to the elderly. Proof of this is the fact that employers are also wary of job seekers over 35. And what about those who stepped over 40?

But after all, it would seem, to this age a person acquires some self-confidence, life experience, including professional. At this age, he has a firm life position, clear goals. This is the age when a person is able to really assess their strengths and be responsible for their own actions. And suddenly, as the verdict sounds: "Elderly." From what age can the individual be considered elderly, we will try to understand.

Age boundaries

Representatives of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences say that recently there have been significant changes in the determination of the biological age of a person. To study such and many other changes occurring with a person, there is the World Health Organization - WHO. So, the classification of a person's age by WHO, says the following:

• In the range from 25 to 44 years - a person is young;
• In the range from 44 to 60 - has an average age;
• From 60 to 75 - people are considered old people;
• From 75 to 90 - this is already representatives of the old age.

All who were lucky enough to cross this bar are considered long-livers. Unfortunately, up to 90, and even more so to 100 few live. The reason for this is the various diseases to which a person is exposed, the ecological situation, and also the living conditions.

So what happens? What is the elderly age according to the WHO classification significantly younger?

What sociological research shows

According to sociological surveys conducted annually in different countries, the people themselves are not going to get old. And they are ready to consider themselves to the elderly only when they reach the age of 60-65 years. Apparently, the bills on increasing the retirement age start here.

Elderly people, however, need more time to give their health. In addition, the decrease in attention and speed of perception of information does not always allow people after 60 years to quickly adapt to the changing situation. This is especially important in the conditions of scientific and technological progress. People who have reached a certain age sometimes find it difficult to master innovative technologies. But few people think about the fact that for many people this is the strongest psychological trauma. They suddenly begin to feel worthless, unnecessary. This aggravates an already acute situation of reassessment of age.

My years are my wealth

Classification of age by WHO is not an absolute criterion for assigning a person to a certain age category. After all, not only the number of years characterizes a person's condition. Here it is appropriate to recall a famous proverb that says that a person is as old as he feels himself. Probably, this expression is more indicative of a person's age than the age classification of WHO. This is due not only to the psychoemotional state of a person and to the degree of deterioration of the body.

Unfortunately, diseases that overwhelm and exhaust people do not ask for age. They are equally affected by the old and the children. It depends on many factors, including the state of the body, immunity, living conditions. And, of course, on how a person treats his health. Once not completely cured diseases, lack of normal rest, improper nutrition - all this and much more wears out the body quite badly.

Elderly age is for many people grumbling, bad memory, a whole bunch of chronic diseases. However, all the above disadvantages can also characterize a relatively young person. Today this is far from being a criterion to rank a person in a certain age category.

Middle age crisis. What's his threshold today?

Everyone is well aware of such a thing as the crisis of middle age. And who can answer the question about the age at which he often comes? Before you determine this age, let's deal with the very notion.

Under the crisis here is understood such a time when a person begins to rethink values, beliefs, assess life lived and his actions. Probably, such a period in life also comes exactly when people have lived behind their years, experience, mistakes and disappointments. Therefore, this life period is often accompanied by emotional instability, even deep and prolonged depression.

The onset of such a crisis is inevitable, it can last from several months to several years. And its duration depends not only on the individual characteristics of the person and on his lived life, but also on the profession, the situation in the family and other factors. Many come out victorious from this life collision. And then the average age does not give way to aging. But it also happens that out of this struggle come out aged and lost interest in life people who have not reached even 50 years.

What the World Health Organization says

As we have already discussed, the old age according to the WHO classification falls within the range of 60 to 75 years. According to the results of sociological research, representatives of this age group are young at heart and are not going to record themselves in the old. By the way, according to the same studies carried out a dozen years ago, all those who reached the age of 50 or more belonged to the elderly. The current age classification by WHO shows that these are middle-aged people. And it is quite possible that this category will only be young.

Few in youth think about what age is considered elderly. And only with the years, crossing one line after another, people understand that at any age "life is just beginning." Only having accumulated a huge life experience, people start to think about how to prolong youth. Sometimes it turns into a real battle with age.

Signs of aging

The elderly age in WHO is characterized by the fact that people have a decrease in vital activity. What does this mean? Elderly people become inactive, acquire a lot of chronic diseases, they decrease care, memory worsens.

However, the old age according to the WHO classification is not just an age range. Researchers have long come to the conclusion that the aging process takes place in two directions: physiological and psychological.

Physiological aging

As for physiological aging, it is most clear and noticeable for others. Because with the human body there are certain irreversible changes that are visible to him, as well as others. In the body everything changes. The skin becomes dry and flabby, this leads to the appearance of wrinkles. The bones become brittle and because of this the probability of fractures increases. Hair decolour, break and often fall out. Of course, for people trying to keep their youth, many of these problems are solvable. There are various cosmetic preparations and procedures that, if properly and regularly used, can mask visible changes. But these changes will sooner or later become noticeable.

Psychological aging

Psychological aging may not be so noticeable to others, but this is not always the case. The elderly often change their character. They become inconsiderate, irritable, quickly get tired. And this happens often because they observe the manifestation of the aging of the physiological. They can not influence the irreversible processes in the body and because of this they often experience a deep spiritual drama.

So what is the age considered elderly?

Due to the fact that the body of each person has its own characteristics, such changes occur in all different ways. And physiological and psychological aging is not always simultaneous. Strong in spirit people, optimists are able to take their age and maintain an active lifestyle, thereby slowing down physiological aging. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to answer the question of what age is considered elderly. After all, not always the number of lived years is an indicator of the state of the inner world of man.

Often people who monitor their health, feel the first changes in their body and try to adapt to them, reduce their negative manifestation. If you regularly take care of your health, then you can move away the approach of old age. Therefore, those people who fall into the category of "old age" according to WHO classification, can not always feel that way. Or, on the contrary, those who overcome the 65-year-old line, consider themselves ancient old men.

Therefore, it would be superfluous to recall once again what the folk wisdom says: "A person is as old as he feels".