• Question: what is the most venerable part of you body to injury and illness as you mature? @all

    Asked by 442aged37 to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 10 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Siana Jones

      Siana Jones answered on 10 Nov 2015:

      All body parts are interlinked, so it’s hard to pick one thing. You’re heart is definitely vulnerable as you get older and once it’s damaged this can effect your whole body.

    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 10 Nov 2015:

      I think the brain becomes more vulnerable as you get older, as diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s are associated with old age. We don’t have have good diagnostics or treatment available for these conditions either. The risk of strokes increases too.

    • Photo: Peter Francis

      Peter Francis answered on 10 Nov 2015:

      As you age your muscle mass and strength decrease. This means you are at an increased risk of falling. Ageing also leads to a reduction in bone mineral density which means when you do fall you are at an increased risk of fracture. A hip fracture is common and unfortunately the outcomes from such a fracture are not good. Many older adults lose further muscle mass and strength after this type of fall as a result of not being able to use their legs very much. This often leads to nursing home admission.

    • Photo: Sara Falcone

      Sara Falcone answered on 11 Nov 2015:

      I agree with Peter. Bones become very delicate when we age because we lose some of the calcium that make them strong. Muscles also lose tone so they are not that efficient to hold us in place anymore (and that is why old people shrink too). If you add: less coordination+less muscle strength+weaker bones you can understand why falling is so likely and that the consequences can be very bad.

    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 11 Nov 2015:

      Yes, this is a tough one. as Peter and Carolyn said, injury is more frequent as you age due to a combination of falls and more brittle bones. But the most common illnesses of ageing – and the ones which are responsible for the most deaths – are generally associated with blood vessels – heart disease, dementia kidney disease and diabetes and its complications all increase with age, and all have damage to blood vessels as a contributing factor, so I’d say that these are the most vulnerable.

      (It’s also not unusual to ask 5 scientists one question and get 5 different, and all equally correct, answers!)

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