Introduction
Gerontology is the science of the study of aging. Scientists have several theories divided into two categories to describe aging. One explains aging as a natural and programmed process while the second explains aging as a result of damage accumulated over time in the body. The patients exhibit common characteristics such as increased disease, morbidity, and death, increased vulnerability to disease, general decrease in physical size, both the standing and sitting height decreases. Other changes are skin discoloration, wrinkles and deterioration, a general decrease hearing, sight and loss of taste buds. This paper is a discussion of a procedure carried out to test what it feels like to be old.
Methodology
Subjects
There was one subject for the test which was I participating in the test. My impairments were visual impairment (short cited), deteriorated sense of tastes (Seiden 1997), and decreased sense of hearing (Percival 2008 P. 72). Others include wrinkled skin (Morgan and Kunkel 2001 P. 4) and white hair and toothlessness.
Methods
The main method used in this test is participation.
Discussion and results
In the test, the poor eyesight (short cited) made me to only see close-up objects, two meters radius, using two pairs of dark goggles together to simulate that unlike many aged people who develop poor sight for close-up objects, I could hardly visualize far-off objects. For my poor sense of hearing, I used rolled up cotton balls which I fixed in the ears to cut out the frequency of incoming sound. This might simulate that with age, the sense of hearing in elderly persons diminishes and they develop a general disability to hear high frequencies. As of the taste, is used lemon powder all over my tongue to create an impression that I couldn’t differentiate between bitter and sour and salty and food was salt less for me at all times. As of the wrinkles on the skin, I used a mask that I bought to simulate that skin deterioration with age. As of toothlessness, I used tarmac on all teeth except the upper front two to simulate the tooth disappearances with age.
The daily activities I engaged in included cooking and this was hard for me since I couldn’t tell how much salt was in the food and almost found myself putting more than enough. I also had a problem in visualizing things that were placed high on shelves and depended on assistance to (Morgan and Kunkel 2006) figure them out. I also took a car to drive and yes, on roundabouts, I had trouble differentiating the street lights but this was minor as I followed other drivers. As of the skin wrinkles and the white-haired wig, people kept looking during my walk along the street and some were sympathetic to assist when crossing the roads. Most unbearable was watching TV; I couldn’t figure a thing and words passed by. The TV and kitchen utensils need change.
From the experience, aging comes at the right time where people are not so busy. In walking with my legs tied and back bent, poor sight, it took me longer than I do at my age and I felt like being myself first and then change back to the old (Bengston and Putney 2009). There is no contradiction at all from the context learnt from the book and the videos.
References
Bengston V. L. and Putney N., (2009). Handbook of Theories of Aging. Springer Publishing Company. New York: NY.
Morgan L. and Kunkel S., (2001). Aging and Social Context. Pine Forge Press. London: UK.
Morgan L. and Kunkel S., (2006). Aging, Society and the Life Course. Springer Publishing, Inc. New York: NY.
Percival S. L., (2008). Microbiology and Aging: Clinical Manifestations. Humana Press. Flintshire: UK.
Seiden A. M., (1997). Taste and Smell Disorders. Theime Medical Publishers, Inc. United states of America.
