MEDICAL BIOLOGY, ANATOMY, HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY - Y.I. Fedoniuk 2010

BIOLOGY

SECTION 1. BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN VITAL ACTIVITY

1.4. ONTOGENETIC LEVEL OF LIFE ORGANIZATION

1.4.3. Biology of Individual Development

Old Age as The final stage of Human Ontogenesis

Old age is a natural stage of ontogenesis that culminates in death. The state of old age is reached through the Aging process. Aging is a progressive, irreversible decline in an Organism's viability after it has reached maturity. The Biological Role of aging lies in making death inevitable; without death, there would be no succession of generations—one of the primary prerequisites of the evolutionary process. Aging affects all levels of an individual's structural Organization: molecular, subcellular, cellular, tissue, and organ levels. External signs of old age include a hunched posture, graying Hair, baldness, thinning and loss of elasticity in the Skin, tooth loss, and diminished working capacity and memory. Internal signs of old age involve a reduction in the size of Internal Organs, a decline in the functional capacity of all physiological systems (nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, along with Connective Tissue degradation), altered METABOLISM, decreased enzymatic and functional activity, a narrowing of the norm of reaction, and, consequently, a reduced ability of the organism to adapt to the environment.

Lipofuscin, the aging pigment, accumulates in the myocardium and nervous Tissues.

Gerontology (from Greek geron, meaning old man) is the science of aging. Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine (from Greek iatros, meaning physician), is a branch of gerontology that studies the diseases of elderly and senile people.

Structure/149.html">The problem of aging is multifaceted. The biological aspects of aging are related to the roles of HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT in the aging process; medical aspects are associated with the multiple manifestations of pathologies in elderly and senile individuals who simultaneously suffer from several diseases. Social aspects of aging are linked to Changes in the demographic STRUCTURE OF THE population toward an increasing proportion of elderly individuals and a rising percentage of non-working people.



Last update: 08/08/2026

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