Question: Why is there a higher risk of becoming ill?

Richard Unwin answered on 16 Nov 2015:

Hi bethj,

Do you mean a higher risk as we get older? 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’, 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.