Why does height tend to decrease as people get older?

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As you get older until you are 40 years old, your height tends to decrease by an average of 1 centimeter every 10 years because the body’s bones, muscles, and joints are constantly changing. And when you reach 70 years old, your height will decrease very quickly. The main cause is usually the collapse of the spine due to osteoporosis.

In some cases, there may be no pain or abnormalities, even though the bone has collapsed. If it is severe, there may be pain in the area where the bone collapses, which may press on a nerve, resulting in muscle weakness to the point of paralysis.

During adolescence, the body grows and the bone mass accumulates 90% of the peak bone density and will accumulate the most between the ages of 30-35. But after that, between the ages of 35-40, the amount of bone mass will start to decrease, eventually causing a condition called osteoporosis, which is a condition of low bone mass and increasingly fragile bones. The areas where osteoporosis is often found are the hips and forearms. But it is most commonly found in the spine in the midline of the back of the body (spine) ufabet https://ufabet999.app, which affects height.

The main causes of elderly people losing height are:

         The spinal discs collapse.  Since the spinal discs are similar to gel, as people get older, this gel becomes dry and shriveled, which also deteriorates with age. This causes them to collapse, and as a result, height decreases. Another reason for height decreases is often due to:

         Osteoporosis, a curved or bent spine, which is usually normal for the elderly. These characteristics can be observe from the elderly who walk with a hunch back. These are the reasons why many elderly people get shorter as they get older. 

Ways to prevent osteoporosis early on, since you are young, as follows:

  • Drink milk and dairy products regularly. For the elderly, it is recommend to choose to drink low-fat milk and eat foods that are high in vitamin D, such as sea fish and egg yolks.
  • Exercise regularly, such as walking, running, cardio, aerobics, and various sports that require movement and force to transfer weight to the bone shaft.
  • Practice balance by choosing activities, exercises or sports that involve weight transfer, such as dancing, ballroom dancing, yoga, pilates, ice skating, surf skating and surfboarding, etc., to reduce the risk of brittle and easily broken bones when old.

Losing height is common as people age, but it can also indicate the potential for serious health problems, so exercising and eating a healthy diet will help ensure that you have good bone health and a good quality of life in the long run.