Anti-Aging is a Thing of the Past — the Future is in Active Aging
Society is facing the challenge of a new age in dealing with the exponential growth of the aging population. With almost ten percent of the global population being elderly, society must face a new phase of redefining age.
The world has experienced a substantial increase in life expectancy and along with declining fertility, increased longevity has driven the population to age globally.
In particular, South Korea has the world’s fastest aging population with people aged 65+ amounting to 15.5% of the total population. However, compared to its rapidly aging society, Korea has a relatively underdeveloped health care system pertinent to the needs of the elderly society.
In addition, compared to the accelerating advancement in medical technology, the cultural viewpoint on aging has remained relatively dormant, leaving an entire aging population uninformed with how to deal with an extended deadline on life. Such pessimistic perceptions that surround old age is connected to the conflict between generations. Korea has achieved massive growth through compressed acceleration in recent years, leaving a deep chasm between generations — a chasm that sprouts misconceptions and prejudices regarding old age.
Furthermore, with the stigma that follows old age, there exists a definitive prototype of a standard life timeline. The current silver generation in Korea tends to consider old age as a limbo — a void between youth and death. The situation is comparable to the DMV, where people take a number, linger and burn time in the waiting room until called upon.
However, there have been recent movements to fight this defeatist approach to aging. The truth is, in modern society, age has no longer become a definitive indicator of a set stage in life. Instead, people can develop their own timeline by actively utilizing the advancement of medical care technology to practice active aging.
Active aging accepts the possibility of physical and mental decline that follows aging. It strives for a fully functioning dynamic lifestyle, rich with interactions and stimulating motivations. Unlike anti-aging, it aims to improve the quality of life beyond maintaining physical health and appearance — it seeks to sustain a healthy brain, the hardware of our bodies.
One of the most significant, yet overlooked areas in health management is cognitive health. If you are in your early 40s ‘cognitive health’ may seem like an unfamiliar and distant topic. However, to practice active aging, cognitive health preparations must be thoroughly implemented in advance. Be aware of approaching dangers to know when the next wave will hit and build an appropriate breakwater to minimize damage. As you get older, your physical function diminishes naturally, but if you start taking part in cognitive training and prepare measures for active aging, you can reduce the risks of cognitive impairment and dementia.
So does cognitive training even work?
There is a common misconception that as you get older your brain starts to solidify. However, it has been proven that though with age your memory span can deteriorate, your intelligence doesn’t necessarily decline.
The most essential domain of human intelligence, ‘comprehensive decision making’ actually tends to continually increase well into your 60s through sustained learning and experience. This is because the structure of the nervous system changes depending on the environment, experience, and physical condition of an individual. This flexible nature of the nervous system is called plasticity. Neuroplasticity is the capacity of neural networks to change through growth and restructuring. Examples of neuroplasticity include circuit and network changes that result from learning a new ability, experiencing environmental influences, and practicing brain exercises.
How do you maintain cognitive health? Here is a list of activities for brain stimulation.
- Keep your brain active and engaged
With the development of real-time brain health monitoring technology, there has been an increase in cases of patients being treated or trained to change their brain structure by altering thought patterns. For example, when chronic pain patients are trained to reduce the activity of a certain domain in the brain while being shown the region of activity in the brain associated with pain, it is said that the pain decreases as the activity in the area decreases.
People who continue engaging in meaningful activities such as hobbies and recreation tend to be not only happier and healthier but also more capable of directing changes in brain function. This form of cognitive training helps you control your thought process.
2. Learn new skills
This may help you maintain cognitive function. Older adults who attempt to practice new expertise tend to experience memory improvement and greater adaptability to new environments than those who did not engage in cognitively demanding activities.
In an experiment carried out by medical professionals at Evidation Health, a group of seniors went through a year-long online cognitive health training session. Compared to the control group, the experimental group reported a 6% improvement in not only cognitive function but also in depression and anxiety levels.
The nervous system remains versatile until we die. Many aspects of the brain can be altered even through adulthood as new nerve cells are created in the hippocampus, striatum, and olfactory build, which play an important role in event memory, spatial navigation, and associative learning. New cells are actively formed through physical exercise and various environmental stimuli. However, when certain domains in the brain remain inactive, they start to lose their functionality. That’s why it is essential to learn new cognitively demanding activities
3. Stay connected with social activities
As of 2017, the number of elderly people living alone in Korea reached 1.38 million. A lack of social activities makes one more prone to cognitive decline. Connecting with other people through social activities and community programs can aid in keeping your brain stimulated and active and helps you feel less isolated.
4. Receive help from outside sources to keep you motivated
The need for remote healthcare has been brought to light as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for cognitive health management stems from the sheer prevalence of related disorders: 23% of Korea’s older adults (65+) have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 10% suffer from dementia.
If you’re reading this and feel you might need help, try visiting a public health center with dementia prevention programs such as https://seongdong.seouldementia.or.kr/ However, we know it may be frightening to visit in person. If you’re looking for an online platform, you might want to check out some cognitive training programs that are available online. Some programs offer one-to-one sessions accommodated to your personal needs — your own virtual brain coach to provide you with brain health analysis and assist you in cognitive training and therapy programs. With coaching, you can keep track of changes in your brain health and be motivated to learn more.
