• Question: What things can cause diseases in later life?

    Asked by KIBBLEWIBBLE to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 17 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by HAF.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      Hi Kibblewibble,

      Different diseases in later life have different root causes – dementia is caused by different things to heart disease, for example – but in general we are more prone to these diseases because as we age, our body starts to work less well as wear and tear begin to take their toll (think of how well a car work after 200,000 miles, versus when it was new).

    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      There are also many infections that take a long time to have an effect. So even if you are infected when you are a child, you probably won’t have any symptoms or problems until middle-age or even older. Hepatitis B, a virus that can damage the liver, is a really interesting example of this. Scientists don’t know exactly why, but the earlier in life you are infected, the more likely you are to develop liver cancer as an older adult.

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