• Question: Why do older people often get more illnesses the younger people?

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

      Richard Unwin answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      That’s a good question.
      Basically as we get past bout 60, 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). This is why we we are more likely to get heart disease, cancers and dementia, so-called ‘diseases of ageing’, when things can start to ‘go wrong’, but our immune system work less well too, so we’re more likely to get infections, coughs, colds, and they affect us more than when we were young.

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