longevity glossary
Ageing: The Core Terms
Most people, including clinicians, often use ‘ageing’ and ‘growing older’ with different meanings. Our work aims to clarify that there are four distinct processes:
Ageing (scientists call this senescence)
A normal biological process characterised by decreased maximal abilities, diminished reserve capacity, and reduced adaptation to challenges.
Disease
An abnormal process that is sometimes related to the ageing process but is more often linked to lifestyle and environmental factors. Extended exposure to these factors explains why many diseases become more common as chronological age increases.
Loss of Fitness
Results from inactivity, often beginning with sedentary jobs or lifestyle changes. Effects include decreased abilities and reduced resilience. Fitness has three dimensions:
Physical fitness: The ‘4Ss’ —Strength, Stamina, Suppleness, Skill
Cognitive fitness: Mental capabilities
Emotional fitness: Psychological wellbeing and mindset
Negative Beliefs & Social Factors
Social processes influenced by negative and pessimistic cultural attitudes toward ageing and socioeconomic factors, notably isolation and deprivation.
Important Related Concepts
Activity: A more effective term than ‘exercise,’ referring to physical, cognitive, and emotional engagement.
Deconditioning: Occurs when physical activity decreases causing reduced muscle mass, joint stiffening, decreased bone density, and reduced cardiovascular fitness. This has led to the concept of ‘Reconditioning’ to reverse these effects.
Dementia: Severe cognitive impairment, commonly caused by Alzheimer’s Disease or vascular disorders.
Epigenetics: The study of how lifestyle and environment influence gene activity without altering DNA.
Exposome: How external factors (social, psychological, behavioural, geophysical) interact with internal factors (genetics, epigenetics, physiology) to affect health outcomes and resilience.
Frailty: A health state where multiple body systems lose their reserves. Pre-frailty exists when one or two of the frailty indicators are present: weakness, slowness, weight loss, low physical activity, and exhaustion.
Wellbeing: Increasingly preferred over ‘healthy’ to describe aspired outcomes. Has established measurement criteria from the Office of National Statistics (ONS4), addressing: overall life satisfaction, sense of meaning and purpose, and emotions during specific periods. Wellbeing, as defined by AgeUK, encompasses five dimensions: Personal (e.g., housing), Social (e.g., relationships), Health, Resources (e.g., income) and Local (e.g., satisfaction with services).