Don’t Believe the Negative Hype About Aging

Many Ageist Assumptions Are Myths 

Debunking An Aging Stereotype

Hey Y'all. 

So, if you haven't noticed, American culture is rather youth-obsessed. Then there's no shocker that we've been ingrained with cliché and misinformed assumptions about aging. 

Yes, navigating the later years in life presents its challenges and can usher in some unpleasant life transitions, however growing older isn't a monolith or a cookie-cutter, one-size fits all process and experience.

Moonwalking into elderhood doesn't automatically mean that cognitive and mental decline is next or that physical frailty and loss of independence is on the horizon. It isn't synonymous with a collapse of our purpose in life, and it certainly doesn't need to mean a diminished overall quality of life. 

Negative assumptions about aging and generalized beliefs are simply false biases and manifestations of our conditioning to de-value the beauty of aging. 

Aging Myth #1

One of my biggest pet peeves is comments like "old folks shouldn't exercise because they're already frail and they could injure themselves". 

Yeah... Cringe...  😒

Research debunks this  myth. 

Studies show that only about 10% of people over age 65 are considered medically frail. That means the vast majority of older adults do not meet the criteria. Many are living dynamic, fulfilling lives well into their 70s, 80s, and beyond. 

Being old and being frail are not the same thing. Not even close.

What Is Frailty Exactly?

Frailty is a medical condition and NOT a synonym for aging. 

According to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, frailty is defined as a clinical syndrome involving at least three of the following: unintentional weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slow walking speed, and low physical activity. 

It’s associated with an increased risk of adverse health outcomes, like falls or hospitalizations, but it is not an inevitable part of getting older.  Frailty is a broad term that typically describes vulnerable people who've accumulated losses in physiological, psychological and/or social functions, which impairs their ability to cope with and recover from challenges to their health, like a serious illness, injury, or surgery. 

Aging ≠ Frailty

Some older adults are frail, yes, but many are vibrant, strong, independent, and thriving. Like the 70-year-old who teaches yoga, the 80-year-old volunteering full-time, the 90-year-old writing their memoirs, or even the centenarians who participate in marathons. 

Aging doesn’t automatically diminish ability, energy, or purpose.

For a person with frailty though, even a small challenge like starting a new medicine, getting a minor infection, or falling without injury, can cause a dramatic and disproportionate change to their health state. Meaning they can go from lucid to delirious, independent to dependent, mobile to immobile from a small challenge because they're that frail.

Frailty Severity Varies Person to Person

In individuals with frailty, symptoms could present as:

• Unintentional weight loss, usually associated with a loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia)
• Weakness (grip strength)
• Slow walking speed
• Self-reported exhaustion
• Low physical activity
• Cognitive impairment
• Social isolation, depression
• Disability and chronic disease
• Clinical presentations, e.g. falls, incontinence or delirium

Having lower energy levels can prevent frail folks from doing regular activities of daily living (ADL).

Frailty or frailty syndrome can be considered a long-term health condition. It can, and often does, lead to loss of independence. 

Let’s Break the Stereotype

So where does this confusion about aging and being frail come from?

For the most part, it’s cultural. 

We live in a society obsessed with youth. Our media, advertising, and even healthcare systems often reinforce the idea that aging is a decline to be feared, rather than a natural and valuable phase of life. And when older adults are portrayed they’re often shown as fragile, confused, or out of touch, which is a damaging stereotype.

These narrowminded stigmas result in many people, including healthcare providers and even older folks themselves, internalizing false beliefs that aging means slowing down, pulling back, or becoming irrelevant. 

But the truth is, aging is deeply personal and incredibly diverse. There’s no single way to grow older just like there’s no one way to be young.

Two Points to Clear Up:

❎Not All Old or Elderly People are Frail.

✅Proactively, Frailty Can Be Prevented.

The main preventative measure and prescribed treatment option for older or elderly individuals with frailty is....  

Guess?... I'll wait. 😏

Physical Exercise! 

Let's Get Physical, Physical!

Physical activity and exercises aimed to build muscle mass and strength, coupled with balance training can greatly improve a frail person's outcome. 

And furthermore, let's not forget the physical and emotional health benefits associated with physical exercise, such as keeping the heart and lungs strong and boosting serotonin in the brain. Conversely, lack of movement and physical activity are the main contributors to age-related muscle function decline. 

Issues like joint dysfunction, degenerative joint disease, and other injuries can show up from lack of regular use.

Frailty is more common with advanced aging but IS NOT defined by it!

Of course, treating frailty requires a multi-disciplinary approach, like healthy and regular eating and working with a team of highly trained nursing and therapy professionals. 

Beneficial Exercises for the Frail  

Functional exercises that mimic daily movements and activities, such as:

• stair climbing (with a rail for support if needed) for building leg strength
• standing on one foot (with a chair for support) for increasing balance
• chair sit-to-stands for independent toileting and movement
• fall recovery techniques for getting up and down off the floor

Exercises that are geared towards increasing gait, coordination, flexibility and balance, preventing falls, and increasing hand-eye coordination and reaction time.

Tai chi and similar mind and body movement practices have also been shown to improve balance and stability.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it! 💪👵👌

Inactivity, not exercise, is the culprit to worsening health outcomes and quality of life for "old folks". Therapeutic, functional exercises should be encouraged for those living with or wanting to prevent frailty. 

A study by Yale University Professor of Public Health and Psychology Becca Levy, Ph.D., found that believing in negative myths about aging — being useless, helpless, having loss of value — can have a negative impact on longevity. 

Replacing those negative age stereotypes with positive perceptions about aging — having wisdom, self-realization, satisfaction and vitality — resulted in a nearly eight-year increase in average lifespan. 

So encourage Madea and Granddad to attend those morning seated exercise classes, and to add short walks to their daily routine! Debunk their aging assumptions about themselves. Explain to them, and others that it's paramount to their independence that they move their bodies and muscles or risk losing their functional abilities. 

And the next time you hear someone use "frail" as a blanket descriptor for an older person, pause. 

Ask them seriously: is that true? Or is that your bias talking?

Because every time we challenge the idea that age equals decline, we help dismantle a culture that often limits, dismisses, or overlooks older people.

EM

References:

Age UK. (2020). Common conditions and frailty. Retrieved 12 February, 2022 from https://www.ageuk.org.uk/our-impact/policy-research/frailty-in-older-people/common-conditions-frailty/. 

Brennan, D. (2022). What to Know About Frailty in Older Adults. Retrieved 12 February, 2022 from https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/what-to-know-about-frailty-in-older-adults 

Harvard Pilgram Health Care Guide. The Biggest Myths About Aging - Harvard Pilgrim Health Care - HaPi Guide

Howe TE, Rochester L, Neil F, Skelton DA, Ballinger C. Exercise for improving balance in older people. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 11. 

MARION E. T. McMURDO, LUCY RENNIE, A Controlled Trial of Exercise by Residents of Old People's Homes, Age and Ageing, Volume 22, Issue 1, January 1993, Pages 11–15, https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/22.1.11