Different parts of our body ages at different times

 

WE all  accept that getting older is inevitable, and now leading clinicians have revealed the exact age when different body parts start to decline, most alarming being the brain and lungs.

  

French doctors have found that the quality of men's' sperm starts to deteriorate  by 35, so that by the time a man is 45 a third of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Here, with the help of leading clinicians, Angela Epstein tells the Daily Mail the ages when different parts of the body start to lose their battle with time.

  

BRAIN -  Starts ageing at 20

As we get older, the number of nerve  cells - or neurons - in the brain decrease. We start with around 100  billion, but in our 20s this number starts to decline. By 40, we could  be losing up to 10,000 per day, affecting  memory, co-ordination and brain function.

 

GUT -  Starts ageing at 55. 

A healthy gut has a good balance between harmful  and 'friendly' bacteria. But levels of friendly bacteria in the gut drop  significantly after 55, particularly in the large intestine, says Tom  MacDonald, professor of immunology at Barts And The London medical  school. As a result, we suffer from poor digestion and an increased risk  of gut disease. Constipation is more likely as we age, as the flow  of digestive  juices from the stomach, liver, pancreas and small intestine slows  down.

  

BREASTS -  Start ageing at 35

BY their mid-30s, women's breasts start losing  tissue and fat,  reducing size and fullness. Sagging starts properly at 40 and the  areola (the area surrounding the nipple) can shrink considerably.

 

BLADDER -  Starts ageing at 65

Loss of bladder control is more likely when  you hit 65. Women are more vulnerable to bladder problems as, after the  menopause, declining estrogen levels make tissues in the urethra - the  tube through which  urine passes - thinner and weaker, reducing bladder support. Bladder  capacity in an older adult generally is about half that of a younger  person - about two cups in a  30-year-old and one cup in a 70-year-old. ....

LUNGS -  Start ageing at 20

Lung capacity slowly starts to  decrease from the  age of 20. By the age of 40, some people are already experiencing breathlessness. This is partly because the muscles and the rib cage which  control breathing  stiffen up.

 

VOICE -  Starts ageing at 65

Our voices become quieter and hoarser with age. The  soft tissues in the voice box (larynx) weaken, affecting the pitch,  loudness and quality of the voice. A woman's voice may become huskier  and lower in pitch,  whereas a man's might become thinner and higher. 

EYES  -  Start ageing at 40

Glasses are the norm for many over-40s as  failing eyesight kicks in - usually long-sightedness, affecting our  ability to see objects up close.

  

HEART  - Starts ageing at  40

The heart pumps blood less  effectively around the  body as we get older. This is because blood vessels become less elastic,  while arteries can harden or become blocked because of fatty deposits  forming on the  coronary arteries - caused by eating too much saturated fat. The blood  supply to the heart is then reduced, resulting in painful angina. Men  over 45 and women over 55 are  at greater risk of a heart attack. 

 

LIVER -  Starts ageing at 70

This is the only organ in the body  which seems to defy  the aging process.

   

KIDNEYS -  Starts ageing at 50

With kidneys, the number of  filtering units  (nephrons) that remove waste from the bloodstream starts to reduce in  middle age.

  

PROSTATE  -  Starts ageing at 50

The prostate often becomes enlarged with  age, leading to  problems such as increased need to urinate, says Professor Roger Kirby,  director of the Prostate Centre in London . This is known as benign  prostatic hyperplasia  and affects half of men over 50, but rarely those under 40. It occurs  when the prostate absorbs large amounts of the male sex hormone  testosterone, which increases the  growth of cells in the prostate. A normal prostate is the size of a  walnut, but the condition can increase this to the size of a tangerine.

 

BONES  - Start ageing at 35

'Throughout our life, old bone  is broken down  by cells called osteoclasts and replaced by bone-building cells called  osteoblasts - a process called bone turnover,' explains Robert Moots,  professor of  rheumatology at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool . Children's  bone growth is rapid - the skeleton takes just two years to  renew

Itself completely. In adults, this can take  ten years. Until our mid-20s, bone density is still increasing. But at  35 bone loss begins as part of the natural ageing process.

   

TEETH  - Start ageing at 40

As we age, we produce less  saliva, which washes  away bacteria, so teeth and gums are more vulnerable to decay. Receding  gums - when tissue is lost from gums around the teeth - is common  in adults over  40.

 

MUSCLES  - Start ageing  at 30

Muscle is constantly being built up and broken down,  a process which is well balanced in young adults. However, by the time  we're 30, breakdown is greater than buildup, explains Professor Robert  Moots. Once  adults reach 40,  they start to lose between 0.5 and 2 per cent of their muscle each year.  Regular exercise can help prevent  this.

  

HEARING -  Starts ageing mid-50s

More than half of people over 60 lose  hearing because of their age, according to the Royal National  Institute for the Deaf.

  

SKIN - Starts ageing mid-20s

The skin  starts to age naturally in your  mid-20s.

  

TASTE  AND SMELL -  Start ageing at 60

We start out in life with about 10,000  taste buds  scattered on the tongue. This number can halve later  in life. After we turn 60, taste and smell gradually decline, partly as  a result of the normal ageing process.

  

FERTILITY -  Starts ageing at 35

Female fertility begins to decline after  35, as the number  and quality of eggs in the ovaries start to fall. The lining of the womb  may become thinner, making it less likely for a fertilised egg to take,  and also creating an environment  hostile to sperm.

HAIR -  Starts ageing at 30

Male hair loss usually begins in the 30s. Hair is  made in tiny pouches  just under the skin's surface, known as follices. A hair normally grows  from each follicle for about three years, is then shed, and a new hair  grows.  Most people  will have some gray hair by the age of 35. When we are young, our hair  is coloured by the pigments produced by cells in the hair follicle  known as melanocytes.

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