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Middle age is the period of life beyond young adult
Young adult (psychology)

According to Erik Erikson's stages of human development, first enumerated in Childhood and Society a young adult is generally a person between the ages of 20 and 39, whereas an adolescent is a person between the ages of 13 and 19, although definitions and opinions can vary....
hood but before the onset of old age
Old age

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human biological life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include seniors ? chiefly an American usage ? or elderly....
. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings.

According to Collins Dictionary, this is "... usually considered to occur approximately between the ages of 40 and 60".

The OED gives a similar definition but with a later start point "...






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Middle age is the period of life beyond young adult
Young adult (psychology)

According to Erik Erikson's stages of human development, first enumerated in Childhood and Society a young adult is generally a person between the ages of 20 and 39, whereas an adolescent is a person between the ages of 13 and 19, although definitions and opinions can vary....
hood but before the onset of old age
Old age

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human biological life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include seniors ? chiefly an American usage ? or elderly....
. Various attempts have been made to define this age, which is around the third quarter of the average life span of human beings.

According to Collins Dictionary, this is "... usually considered to occur approximately between the ages of 40 and 60".

The OED gives a similar definition but with a later start point "... the period between youth and old age, about 45 to 60".

The US Census lists middle age as including both the age categories 35 to 44 and 45 to 54, while Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson

Erik Homburger Erikson was a Denmark-Germany-United States Developmental psychology and psychoanalyst known for his Erikson's stages of psychosocial development of human beings....
 sees it ending a little later and defines middle adulthood as between 40 and 65.

Health

Middle-aged adults often show visible signs of aging such as loss of skin elasticity
Skin

The skin is the outer covering of the body, also known as the epidermis. It is the largest organ of the integumentary system made up of multiple layers of epithelial biological tissue, and guards the underlying muscles, bones, ligaments and organ s....
 and graying of the hair
Hair color

Hair color is the pigmentation of hair follicles due to the two types of melanin, eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Generally, if more melanin is present in the hair, the color of the hair is darker; if less melanin is present, the hair color is lighter....
. Physical fitness
Physical fitness

Physical fitness is used in two close meanings: general fitness and specific fitness .Physical fitness is the functioning of the heart, blood vessels, lungs, and muscles at optimum efficiency....
 usually wanes, with a 5-10 kg (10-20 lb) accumulation of body fat, reduction in aerobic performance and a decrease in maximal heart rate. Strength
Strength

Strength may refer to:Physical ability:*Physical strength, as in people or animals*Superhuman strength, as in fictional characters*A common attribute in role-playing games....
 and flexibility
Flexibility

Flexibility may refer to:*Flexibility , the range of motion of an anatomical joint, which may be increased by stretching*Flexibility , in the field of engineering systems design, designs that can adapt when external changes occur...
 also decrease throughout middle age. However, people age at different rates and there can be large differences between individuals of the same age.

Female fertility
Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population....
 declines significantly after age 45, and an advanced maternal age increases the risk of a child being born with some disorders such as Down syndrome
Down syndrome

Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21 is a chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra chromosome 21 ....
. Some conditions are also correlated with advanced paternal age. Most women go through the menopause
Menopause

The Menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation which occurs a considerable length of time before the end of the lifespan.The word was first applied to humans, and because of this it literally means the cessation of monthly cycles or menstrual cycles, from the Greek roots meno and pausis ....
, which ends natural fertility, in their late 40s or 50s.

In developed countries, yearly mortality
Mortality rate

Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths in some population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9.5 in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per year in that entire population....
 begins to increase from age 40 onwards, mainly due to age-related health problems such as heart disease
Heart disease

Heart disease is an umbrella term for a variety for different diseases affecting the heart. As of 2007, it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, killing one person every 34 seconds in the United States alone....
 and cancer
Cancer

Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cell display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis . These three malignant properties of cancers differentiate them from benign tumors, which are self-limited, do not invade or metastasize....
. However, the majority of middle-aged people in industrialized nations can expect to live into old age
Old age

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human biological life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include seniors ? chiefly an American usage ? or elderly....
. Life expectancy
Life expectancy

Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is the average expected lifespan of an individual. Life expectancy is heavily dependent on the criteria used to select the group....
 in developing countries is much lower and the risk of death at all ages is higher.

Further Information

  • , a segment on NPRs "All Things Considered
    All Things Considered

    All Things Considered is a news radio program in the United States, broadcast on the National Public Radio network. It was the first news program on the network, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets....
    " on an aging study done by middle-age neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky
    Robert Sapolsky

    Robert Maurice Sapolsky is an American scientist and author. He is currently professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, and by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University....
  • Ali Khan,


See also

  • Youth
    Youth

    Youth is the period between childhood and adulthood, generally from ages 13-21. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals exist at all ages....
  • Young adult (psychology)
    Young adult (psychology)

    According to Erik Erikson's stages of human development, first enumerated in Childhood and Society a young adult is generally a person between the ages of 20 and 39, whereas an adolescent is a person between the ages of 13 and 19, although definitions and opinions can vary....
  • Old age
    Old age

    Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human biological life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include seniors ? chiefly an American usage ? or elderly....
  • Aging
  • Mid-Life Crisis
    Mid-life crisis

    Midlife crisis is a term used in Western culture to describe a period of dramatic self-doubt that is felt by some individuals in the "middle years" of life, as a result of sensing the passing of youth and the imminence of old age....


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