Take Our Aging Quiz
How much do you know about growing older? Is it true that your heredity will determine how long you live? Is it false that your vocabulary will grow as you age? Test yourself on the basic facts and the latest research on aging.
Click on each link below to see the answer to the True-False question.
Your chronological age is the most important factor in how old you really are.
False.
Experts agree that in later life chronological age doesn’t signify very much. There is enormous variability among elders: some 80-year-olds are in better shape, physically and mentally, than many people in their 60s. Their biological age is different from their chronological age.
Doctors are looking for ways to assess biological age because that could help them decide whether to recommend surgery, for example, but there’s no scientific consensus on how to measure it. Gerontologist Harry R. Moody lists a number of biomarkers that are sometimes used as rough indicators of biological age. They include grip strength and blood pressure, eyesight and hearing, and how well the kidneys and immune system function. Family medical history and personal choices (smoking, overeating, and drinking too much) may also figure into calculations of biological age.
Some researchers have investigated psychological age. Once again, it can be different from chronological age and there’s no consensus on how to define it, according to psychologist Sheri Thompson and gerontologist Susan J. Hoekenga. In assessing people’s psychological age, investigators may look at how well they function mentally and emotionally, comparing memory, ability to learn, self esteem, and so on, with the average person who is the same chronological age.
Regular exercise can lower your biological age. It can also sharpen your mental abilities and do wonders for your psychological age.
Thompson, Sheri and Susan J. Hoekenga. “Understanding and Motivating Older Adults.” Exercise for Older Adults: Ace’s Guide for Fitness.
Read the Full Article on Google Books
“Determining Biological Age.” Scientific American web site, May 13, 2002. Read the Full Article
