Physical Changes In Middle Age

Many of the physical changes of middle age become more marked in the later years of life. Visual and auditory capacities generally show further decline. Decreases in muscle strength reaction time and stamina continue to occur. Outward appearance continues to alter.

Health becomes an increasingly important issue during this period. Acute (temporary) problems such as injuries arid influenza actually tend to decline with age. However chronic (long-term) problems increase   significantly. It has been estimated that approximately 80 percent of all older people have one or more chronic conditions including arthritis, rheumatism,   hypertension, heart disease, and cancer (Ward 1979). In 1974,   according to the U.S. Public Health Service (1974), 39 percent of people over 65 experienced limitations on major activities (defined as the ability to work, keep house, or engage in school activities) and another 7 percent experienced less serious limitations.

Research suggests that older people learn to live with and accept many of these conditions as an inevitable part of aging. Consequently, self-ratings of health decline less than objective ratings (Riley & Foner, 1968). Nevertheless,   perceived and actual health are clearly related to each other- actual health cannot define too far before perceived health is affected.
The importance of this is illustrated in a study by Palmore and Luikart (1972), which found that self-rating of health was the variable most related to life satisfaction among middle-aged and older men and women.
While the human "physical plant'' naturally declines with age, it is   important to realize that not all the health complaints of the elderly lack medical causes. In fact, advocates for the elderly are worried about a tendency   among medical, psychiatric, and psychological practitioners to attribute   true disease symptoms shown by old people to the irreversible process of aging and therefore fail to prescribe treatments that could greatly benefit the elderly and enhance the quality of their lives.

Related to physical changes are questions about sexuality. The traditional   view is that older people are not and should not be sexually active.
It is difficult to obtain reliable data on sexual activity in old age, partly because different studies focus on different aspects of sexuality. Sexual functioning has been variously defined as coitus once a week or more successful coitus at least once a year, or regular orgasmic release through any means including coitus, masturbation, or nocturnal emission. Further most research has focused on males. Given these limitations, the evidence suggests that even in their 70s the majority of men continue to function sexually (Kahn & Fisher, 1967; Botwinick, 1973). The evidence further suggests that loss of responsiveness is not an inevitable part of aging but is due instead to factors such as chronic physical problems, lack of an available partner, and the belief that sex after 60 is somehow unusual or immoral (Botwinick, 1975).