Growing Old In The United States

             Aging is not a regular and gradual process. It's a whole set of mechanisms that occur and combine at different rates. This explains why certain bodily tissues become less efficient before others but, obviously, what matters most is the ability to adapt, the determination to continue living, and to assume one's role in life.
             As stated in the text, growing old brings on predictable changes: gray hair, wrinkles, loss of height and weight, and an over all decline in strength and vitality. After age fifty, bones become more brittle, so that injuries take longer to heal, and the odds of contracting chronic illnesses (such as arthritis and diabetes) and life-threatening conditions (such as heart disease and cancer) rise steadily. The sensory abilities-taste, sight, touch, smell, and especially hearing-become less keen with age.
             Growing old certainly involves a variety of life stressors that can lead to depression. Some people have trouble making the transition from full time productive careers to retirement. Others have been forced to retire because of chronic health problems or disability. For some, mounting medical bills threaten their future financial stability. The loss of a loved one, or serious illness in a lifelong friend, or in your spouse, can add tremendous caretaking responsibilities, and also creates much sadness. Lack of mobility, either due to physical illness, or loss of driving privileges, can result in social isolation
             Elderly people today are not treated with the respect and reverence to which they were earlier accustomed to. I work with retired elderly on a daily basis and they are treated, by some of the younger generation, as if they are in the way or of some bother to us. When in fact, if one of them does not show up on his or her specific day our business is hurting. The elderly are our ancestors, most of them parents of one or more who follow them. Children should honor t
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