Chapter 8 - Middle Adulthood

• Each person experiences age-related physical changes based on many factors: biological factors, such as molecular and cellular changes, and oxidative  damage are called primary aging,
• aging that occurs due to controllable factors, such as an unhealthy lifestyle including lack of physical exercise and poor diet, is called secondary aging
• The loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with aging is referred to as sarcopenia 
• A normal change of the eye due to age is presbyopia, which is Latin for “old vision.” It refers to a loss of elasticity in the lens of the eye that makes it harder for the eye to focus on objects that are closer to the person. When we look at something far away
• Another common eye problem people experience as they age are floaters, little spots or “cobwebs” that float around the field of vision. 
• Finally, some people experience dry eye syndrome, which occurs when the eye does not produce tears properly, or when the tears evaporate too quickly because they are not the correct consistency.
• Atherosclerosis, or a buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries, is the most common cause of cardiovascular disease.
• Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a serious health problem that occurs when the blood flows with a greater force than normal.
• The sandwich generation refers to adults who have at least one parent age 65 or older and are either raising their own children or providing support for their grown children
• The first number is the systolic pressure, which is the pressure in the blood vessels when the heart beats. 
• The second number is the diastolic pressure, which is the pressure in the blood vessels when the heart is at rest.
• cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases in which the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues
• Cholesterol is a waxy fatty substance carried by lipoprotein molecules in the blood. It is created by the body to create hormones and digest fatty foods and is also found in many foods.
• Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus) is a disease in which the body does not control the amount of glucose in the blood.
• Type 2 diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance, a disorder in which the cells in the muscles, liver, and fat tissue do not use insulin properly 
• Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of several cardiometabolic risk factors, including large waist circumference, high blood pressure, and elevated triglycerides, LDL, and blood glucose levels, which can lead to diabetes and heart disease 
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory disease that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function in the joints
• Fatty liver disease (hepatic steatosis) refers to the accumulation of fat in the liver. The liver normally contains little fat, and anything below 5% of liver weight is considered normal. This disease is present in 33% of American adults.
• Heartburn, also called acid indigestion or pyrosis, is a common digestive problem in adults and is the result of stomach acid backing up into the esophagus.
• Gallstones are hard particles, including fatty materials, bile pigments, and calcium deposits, that can develop in the gallbladder.
• Metabolism is the process by which the body converts food and drink into energy.
• The climacteric, or the midlife transition when fertility declines, is biologically based but impacted by the environment. 
• Perimenopause refers to a period of transition in which a woman's ovaries stop releasing eggs and the level of estrogen and progesterone production decreases.
• Menopause is defined as 12 months without menstruation.
•  A hot flash is a surge of adrenaline that can awaken the brain from sleep.
• If testosterone levels decline significantly, it is referred to as andropause or late-onset hypogonadism. 
• fluid intelligence, which refers to the capacity to learn new ways of solving problems and performing activities quickly and abstractly
• crystallized intelligence, which refers to the accumulated knowledge of the world we have acquired throughout our lives
• Flow is the mental state of being completely present and fully absorbed in a task
• Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is pragmatic or practical and learned through experience rather than explicitly taught, and it also increases with age.
• Expertise refers to specialized skills and knowledge that pertain to a particular topic or activity. In contrast, a novice is someone who has limited experiences with a particular task. 
• Another problem older workers may encounter is job burnout, defined as unsuccessfully managed work place stress. 
• Social integration is the concept used to describe the number of social roles that you have. For example, you might be a daughter, a basketball team member, a Humane Society volunteer, a coworker, and a student. 
• Problem-focused coping is thought of as actively addressing the event that is causing stress in an effort to solve the issue at hand. 
• Emotion-focused coping, on the other hand, regulates the emotions that come with stress. 
• Generativity encompasses procreativity, productivity, and creativity. This stage includes the generation of new beings, new products, and new ideas, as well as self-generation concerned with further identity development.
• The sandwich generation refers to adults who have at least one parent age 65 or older and are either raising their own children or providing support for their grown children.
• The empty nest, or post-parental period refers to the time period when children are grown up and have left home.
• The role loss hypothesis predicts that when people lose an important role in their life they experience a decrease in emotional well-being. It is from this perspective that the concept of the empty nest syndrome emerged, which refers to great emotional distress experienced by parents, typically mothers, after children have left home.
• In addition to those in early adulthood who are not leaving the home of their parents, there are also young adults who are returning after having lived independently outside the home, and these are called boomerang kids.