Changes in Sensory Functions Resulting from Aging
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Changes in Sensory Functions Resulting from Aging
Have you seen an older person use bifocals? Or have you witnessed them turn up the TV volume when it is already high? Well, such changes come with age, and there is no need for alarm unless they have suddenly occurred. But why is this the case? Why did this not happen ten or twenty years ago? These are the gradual physiological changes, particularly in the sensory system a person undergoes with age. Studies conducted on this subject indicate the changes begin at 50 (Chiba et al., 2016). In society, most older people cannot hear, smell, taste, feel or see clearly. Learning about the sensory changes that occur in old age can educate caregivers and older people to adjust their daily routines to meet the new needs. This paper seeks to explore the changes in sensory functions due to aging.
Changes in vision
All senses can affect the body in one way or another, but the vision is essential. Losing vision can dramatically alleviate an individual’s quality of life and even threaten their ability to stay independently. The human eye is elastic typically, but at around 50, the eye’s elasticity begins to alleviate, slowing vision (Correia et al., 2016). Consequently, it becomes challenging for the eye to focus on close objects, and it begins to develop blurred vision. Thus, an older person may take longer to recognize or focus on objects than a young individual. The lack of clear focus affects their ability to scan objects and pick something they desire. For instance, it is difficult for an older person to pick an item from a grocery shelf. Old age can make the eye pupil grow small; the lens thickens; hence its transparency reduces, affecting the retina’s passage of light (Correia et al., 2016).
For this reason, many older people find it difficult to see clearly at dusk, seeing in places where there is inadequate light or clearly defining two dark but different colors. A study conducted by Correia et al. (2016) indicates that a person at 65 needs twice the light a 20-year-old needs to see (p.309). Such explains why older people use bifocal lenses for seeing and reading. The cornea becomes less sensitive, reducing the ability to sense injuries, and the eye muscles become weakened as the person ages; hence they may not be able to turn their eyes in all angles (Correia et al., 2016). Production of tears reduces as a person ages, and eye dryness is associated with infections, inflammation, and the cornea’s degeneration.
Notably, the loss of vision can be driven by several factors associated with old age. Some diseases have been identified to be the causes of loss of vision for older persons. Cataracts are one of the diseases where the lens becomes cloudy and hard. Cataracts primarily cause blurred vision in older people; they may complain of seeing unclearly (Correia et al., 2016). Floaters have been identified as familiar to older people and are characterized by small opaque objects in the eye (Correia et al., 2016). Another blindness-threatening eye problem is Glaucoma. Glaucoma develops from fluid accumulation in the eye and under light; people can complain of seeing colored rings when they focus on the light (Correia et al., 2016).
Equally, the nerve cells of a small part of the retina called the Macular can deteriorate to cause blindness in older people. Older people may be unable to see clearly, especially on a straight-forward focus (Correia et al., 2016). The objects can appear disappeared, blurred, or distorted. For older patients with diabetes, diabetic retinopathy can be expected and is characterized by blurred vision due to reduced blood vessels. Diabetes retinopathy can cause blindness if untreated (Correia et al., 2016). Visual impairments in old age are associated with mental health effects, general life quality, and lack of independence. Some of the mental health effects associated with visual impairments include anxiety and depression and can cause loneliness, disengagement, and social isolation (Chiba et al., 2016). Visually impaired older people are unable to perform their daily tasks, increasing the need for social support.
Changes in hearing function
Studies indicate that hearing function and sensory cells begin degenerating as early as 20 (Jayakody et al., 2018). The ability to hear declines gradually as individual ages. Older people above 50 or 60 have noticeable hearing function decline as they can complain of difficulties in hearing high frequency sounds like g, z, s, f, or t (Jayakody et al., 2018). For such individuals, they may be unable to differentiate words that sound similar, for instance, dead and bed. Scientists have categorized the loss of hearing into conducive and central nerve loss. Conductive hearing loss can occur due to blockage of sound between the outer and the middle ear due to childhood infections, accumulation of wax, or a foreign object in the ear (Jayakody et al., 2018). On the other hand, central nerve loss refers to the loss of hearing due to allergic reactions, noise, natural old aging, or auditory tumors. People with hearing disabilities often talk loudly, maintain eye contact, withdraw from events or respond inappropriately.
Exposure to noise at a young age has been linked to hearing loss as the chief factor. Head injuries and some genetic factors can cause loss of hearing. Similarly, lifetime exposure to some hearing-loss risk factors has been linked to loss of hearing for older people (Jayakody et al., 2018). Some diseases like heart diseases, tumors, diabetes, or kidney diseases common to older people have been linked to hearing loss. Hearing can affect posture, moderated by the inner ear; therefore, any defect to the hearing due to old age can significantly affect posture and balance (Chiba et al., 2016). Loss of hearing has several social and health impacts associated. One, caregivers for older people with hearing disabilities can be frustrated when communicating with them. Such can lead to blames, guilt, or hurt their feelings (Jayakody et al., 2018). Loss of hearing can make older people socially isolated as they cannot communicate effectively with family members or friends. Such individuals can develop depression that can reduce the quality of life. When older individuals cannot hear properly, they tend to be more paranoid, disagree frequently, and more suspicious (Jayakody et al., 2018). Society can link them to be confused if they cannot hear, and communicating with such people can be fatiguing. Vitamin A and b are recommended for older people with hearing disabilities.
The sense of touch function
The human skin has millions of nerve endings that detect changes in pressure, pain awareness, body position, temperature, and vibrations. Other organs with nerve endings include the muscles, joints, and tendons, among other internal organs (Lautenbacher et al., 2017). The touch sense communicates to the brain for interpretation and deciding the actions as a result. However, the touch sense reduces with aging due to reduced blood supply to sensory organs or the brain. Studies indicate the human brain loses 200 grams of weight as a person ages between thirty to hundred years that causes neuronal degeneration, and an aging brain develops neuritic plaques (Lautenbacher et al., 2017). During aging, the peripheral system has been linked to anterior horn cell degeneration, degeneration of the neuromuscular junction, and the dorsal ganglia (Lautenbacher et al., 2017).
The tactile threshold in older people is dramatically increased, increasing sensitivity to light touch. The pain threshold significantly increases for older people, and they are unable to detect temperature changes easily. The vibration detection threshold increases with aging, and touch in the fingertip can deteriorate gradually (Lautenbacher et al., 2017). The loss of touch can be caused by some diseases associated with old age, like Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, inflammation of the limbs, or mini-strokes (Lautenbacher et al., 2017). The loss of touch can be associated with mental health effects as people desire to feel things. Depression can significantly lower an individual’s quality of life, and some can isolate themselves due to isolation.
Taste and smell function
Taste senses
The two senses work together as a pleasing odor is mostly associated with a good taste. There are about 10,000 taste buds that can taste saltiness, sourness, bitterness, umami flavors, or sweetness (Correia et al., 2016). The number of taste buds alleviates with age while the remaining few begin to shrink. At around 60, an individual might not be sensitive to all five tastes. The sense of taste is also affected by the diminished amounts of saliva produced by salivary glands (Correia et al., 2016). Change in taste can be detected through reduced appetite, weight loss or gain, excess seasoning of food, inability to taste to differentiate foods, and failure to recognize the taste. The sense of taste can affect older people socially. Inability to taste can make them prefer foods with an inadequate supply of nutrients affecting their health (Correia et al., 2016). Older people can grow weak due to reduced appetite, and they may continually complain of a bad taste in food which some caregivers find insulting.
Smell functions
The smell also reduces as individuals age. Studies indicate that smokers lose their sense of smell quicker than the general population (Correia et al., 2016). The smell can be reduced in old age due to conditions like Alzheimer’s disease or head trauma. Individuals with the two conditions find it difficult to understand smells or distinguish them. Older people may not react to unpleasant smells, and they may overuse fragrances (Correia et al., 2016). The lack of smell is associated with social impacts. For instance, it jeopardizes an individual’s hygiene, life quality, and safety. An individual may eat spoiled food because they cannot smell it to know it’s spoiled. Such leads to problems like food poisoning incurring additional expenses for care.
Conclusion
To sum up, old age is associated with economic, social, health, and now sensory functions. Several senses deteriorate as an individual is aging. The standard age is 50, where the individual starts to feel the decline in sensory functions. The changes dramatically lower their quality of life, reducing their ability to do daily tasks and increasing dependence on other people for assistance. The dependence can be referred to be a social burden by other people. Individuals can develop various mental illnesses due to the loss of senses, which can considerably affect their social lives.
References
Chiba, R., Takakusaki, K., Ota, J., Yozu, A., & Haga, N. (2016). Human upright posture control models based on multisensory inputs; in fast and slow dynamics. Neuroscience Research, 104, 96-104.
Correia, C., Lopez, K. J., Wroblewski, K. E., Huisingh‐Scheetz, M., Kern, D. W., Chen, R. C., … & Pinto, J. M. (2016). Global sensory impairment in older adults in the United States. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 64(2), 306-313.
Jayakody, D. M., Friedland, P. L., Martins, R. N., & Sohrabi, H. R. (2018). Impact of aging on the auditory system and related cognitive functions: a narrative review. Frontiers in neuroscience, 12, 125.
Lautenbacher, S., Peters, J. H., Heesen, M., Scheel, J., & Kunz, M. (2017). Age changes in pain perception: a systematic review and meta-analysis of age effects on pain and tolerance thresholds. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 75, 104-113.