Mature / middle age (1st period 20-21 - 35 years, 2nd period 35 - 55-60 years)

Many people have heard about the so-called middle age. Frequent mentions in glossy magazines and advertisements for medical drugs involuntarily make you think about what age a middle-aged woman is and how it differs from any other? To answer the question, it is necessary to consider it holistically.

Definition of middle age

The concept of middle age is a very vague one. According to encyclopedic publications, this is the name for the period preceding old age or old age. Borders vary depending on the country, its level and life expectancy and other factors. That is, there is no exact data on what year of life it begins.

It is generally accepted that the average age is 30-60 years. Then the elderly begins. Middle age is called because it is actually equidistant from the beginning of life to the end.

According to WHO classification, the current average age is 44-60 years.

Over time, the numbers may change significantly. A few decades ago, 30-year-old women were actually called elderly. When pregnancy occurred, they were classified as old-timers, and a huge mark was placed on this in the medical record. Nowadays, few people can be surprised by a 45-year-old woman in a maternity hospital. Ladies consider themselves to be elderly when they reach 70-80 years of age. In earlier years, they are full of strength and energy, which they never tire of confirming.

Men, according to statistics, have a shorter life expectancy; for them, indicators of old age and middle age may be different. Many people feel young even at fifty years old. As a result, a number of representatives of the stronger sex during these years destroy old families, after which they create new ones with young girls.

Rating of countries with the oldest populations

The higher the average age of the population, the higher the standard of living and development of the country. A high rate indicates prosperity, a good healthcare system and a well-functioning social security system.

Table: top 10 countries with the highest average age of the population in 2019-2020

Indicators of the European Union countries

Table: average life age in EU countries

SVN in other countries of the world in 2020:

• Australia - 38.4.
• Azerbaijan - 30.5.
• Albania - 32.
• Algeria - 27.5.
• American Samoa - 28.8.
• Anguilla - 34.3.
• Angola - 18.
• Andorra - 44.9.
• Antigua and Barbuda - 31.4.
• Argentina - 31.4.
• Armenia - 34.2.
• Aruba -
• Afghanistan - 18.4.
• Bahamas - 31.5.
• Bangladesh - 24.7.
• Barbados - 38.
• Bahrain - 31.8.
• Belarus - 39.6.
• Belize -22.1.
• Benin - 17.9.
• Burma - 28.3.
• Bolivia - 23.7.
• Botswana - 23.1.
• Brazil - 31.1.
• Brunei - 29.6.
• Butane - 26.7.
• Vanuatu - 21.4.
• Venezuela - 27.2.
• East Timor - 18.6.
• Vietnam - 29.6.
• Gabon - 18.6.
• Guyana - 25.4.
• Haiti - 22.5.
• Gambia - 20.5.
• Guatemala - 21.4.
• Guinea - 18.8.
• Guinea-Bissau - 19.9.
• Gibraltar - 34.2.
• Honduras - 22.3.
• Hong Kong - 43.7.
• Grenada - 30.4.
• Greenland - 33.7.
• Georgia - 37.9.
• Guam - 30.1.
• Jersey - 39.
• Djibouti - 23.2.
• Dominica - 32.6.
• Dominican Republic - 27.4.
• Egypt - 25.3.
• Western Sahara - 20.9.
• Yemen - 18.9.
• Israel - 29.6.
• India -27.3.
• Indonesia - 29.6.
• Jordan - 22.
• Iraq - 19.7.
• Iran - 28.8.
• Iceland -
• Cape Verde - 24.5.
• Kazakhstan - 30.
• Cayman Islands - 39.7.
• Cambodia - 24.5.
• Cameroon - 18.4.
• Qatar - 32.8.
• Kenya -19.3.
• Kyrgyzstan - 26.
• Kiribati - 23.9.
• Colombia - 29.3.
• Comoros - 19.4.
• Congo - 18.1.
• South Korea – 40.9.
• DPRK - 33.6.
• Kosovo - 28.2.
• Costa Rica - 30.4.
• Kuwait - 29.
• Curacao - 36.1.
• Laos - 22.3.
• Lesotho - 23.8.
• Liberia - 18.1.
• Lebanon - 29.4.
• Libya - 28.
• Mauritius - 34.4.
• Mauritania - 20.1.
• Madagascar - 19.4.
• Macau - 38.2.
• Macedonia - 37.2.
• Malaysia - 27.9.
• Maldives - 27.4.
• Morocco - 28.5.
• Marshall Islands - 22.6.
• Mexico - 27.6.
• Mongolia - 27.5.
• Montserrat - 31.9.
• Maine - 43.6.
• Namibia - 23.1.
• Nauru - 25.7.
• Nepal - 23.4.
• Nigeria - 18.2.
• Nicaragua -24.7.
• New Zealand - 37.7.
• New Caledonia - 31.4.
• United Arab Emirates - 30.3.
• Oman - 25.1.
• Cook Islands - 35.3.
• Pakistan - 23.
• Palau - 33.2.
• Panama - 28.6.
• Papua New Guinea - 22.6.
• Paraguay - 27.3.
• Peru -27.3.
• Portugal – 41.6.
• Rwanda - 18.8.
• El Salvador - 26.1.
• Samoa - 23.5.
• Saudi Arabia - 26.8.
• Swaziland - 21.2.
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - 32.5.
• Northern Mariana Islands - 32.1.
• Seychelles - 34.4.
• Singapore - 34.
• Syria - 23.8.
• United States of America - 37.8.
• Solomon Islands - 21.9.
• Somalia - 17.8.
• Tajikistan - 23.9.
• Thailand - 36.7.
• Tanzania - 17.5.
• Tuvalu - 25.2.
• Tunisia - 31.9.
• Republic of Turkey – 43.3.
• Philippines - 23.2.
• French Polynesia – 31.
• Central African Republic -19.5.
• Chile - 33.7.
• Sri Lanka - 32.1.
• Ecuador – 27.
• Equatorial Guinea - 19.5.
• Eritrea - 19.3.
• Ethiopia - 17.7.
• South Africa - 26.5.
• Jamaica - 25.3.

Physiology

Middle age is characterized by certain physiological changes:

• withering of the skin;
• decreased melanin production;
• hair loss of natural shade and thinning;
• decreased growth;
• change in body weight due to the ratio of fat mass to muscle mass;
• decreased fertility in women.

The physiological state of the body can change depending on nutrition, genetic factors, country of residence, lifestyle, etc. Everyone is individual. There are as many differences as there are people.

Age periods in children

The most dynamic and qualitatively new changes occur in childhood and adolescence. The period of childhood is characterized by a natural continuity of development and growth processes (see). Organs and functional systems of the child from the moment of his birth. change according to the known periods of childhood V.

Childhood V. is preceded by a period of intrauterine development, in which a stage of embryonic (the first 2 lunar months) and placental (from the 3rd to the 10th lunar month) development is distinguished (A.F. Tour).

The extrauterine period of development is divided into the following periods:

I. Newborn (up to 4 weeks).

II. Infant, or junior nursery, V. (first year of life).

III. Period of primary teeth (from 1 year to 6-7 years):

1. Pre-school, or senior nursery, V. (from 1 year to 3 years).

2. Preschool V. (from 3 to 7 years).

IV. Junior school V. (7 - 12 -13 years old). The age stage from 10 to 12-13 years is sometimes called the prepubertal period; in girls it begins at 8-9 years of age.

V. The period of puberty (high school, adolescence, puberty V.) - for girls from 12 to 16, for boys - from 13 to 17 - 18 years.

The duration of the newborn period, having individually different periods, reflects the period of adaptation to extrauterine living conditions (see Newborn). It is characterized by changes in morphol and physical-chemical. blood indicators, natural fluctuations in the activity of intracellular enzymes and other biochemical indicators. Due to the incompleteness of morphol, the structure of many organs and their functional imperfections, so-called fiziol, albuminuria, uric acid infarctions, transient fever, fiziol, transient dyspepsia. A newborn is characterized by resistance to many infections (scarlet fever, measles, rubella, diphtheria, typhoid, smallpox, etc.), associated with passive immunity received from the mother during fetal development or through breast milk. At the same time, there is an increased sensitivity to pyogenic microbes and pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli.

The duration of breastfeeding is determined by the duration of breastfeeding. By the end of the first year of life, the body of a full-term and normally developing child reaches a certain functional maturity, allowing the transition to the so-called. general diet. At the same time, the basic functions of an infant are not yet stable: there is no ability to limit the pathological process within a particular organ or tissue, there is a tendency to diffuse reactions and septic processes; c. n. With. the child is quickly exhausted, so he needs a lot of sleep (see. Infant).

During the period of baby teeth, all the child’s functions gradually improve. His body is very plastic and all environmental influences, including social ones, are very clearly reflected on it. Initial passive immunity weakens, the tendency to diffuse reactions in diseases decreases, so-called diseases become more frequent. childhood infections, tuberculosis infection; constitutional anomalies appear, in some cases - lymphatic, less often - neuro-arthritic and hemorrhagic forms of diathesis. Various forms of endocrine disorders are becoming more frequent.

In prepubertal, primary school V., many organs reach full development, and morphol ends. differentiation of the cerebral cortex and pathways.

Puberty, the senior school period (lat. pubertas maturity) begins with the formation of secondary sexual characteristics and ends with the achievement of biological sexual maturity. The beginning and duration of the period depend on the genetic characteristics of the individual, climate, nutrition, etc. The puberty period is not strictly connected with calendar age; the end of the puberty period merges with adolescence, in which the development of changes that began in the previous period ends.

Due to acceleration, age-related changes shift towards younger age periods (see Acceleration). There may be deviations in the form of delayed or early onset of puberty, premature development of the mammary glands, gynecomastia in boys, etc.

During puberty, phenomena may occur that border between normal and pathological. They are associated with constitutional variations in the functions of the hormonal glands and a number of exogenous influences that temporarily disrupt the harmonious development of the body. Acromegaloid changes in the limbs, increased height, weight loss or obesity are observed, similar to the clinical picture of pseudoadiposogenital dystrophy or adipose gigantism, neuro-vegetative dystonia, excessive mobility and instability of the autonomic nervous system, psyche and behavior, abnormalities of the endocrine glands - pubertal goiter, a tendency to spontaneous hypo- and hyperglycemia, lability in mineral metabolism, etc. There are frequent cases of disruption of the cardiovascular system (juvenile hypertension, acrocyanosis, juvenile heart, etc.), changes in the skin (acne, seborrhea, hyperhidrosis), enlargement or sudden decreased appetite. Possible disorders of the musculoskeletal system (scoliosis, flat feet, X-shaped legs, etc.).

The puberty period is characterized by two groups of diseases: 1) pathology of the reproductive and endocrine systems (abnormally early or late puberty, its complete or partial absence, intersexism, hermaphroditism, transvertism, etc.); 2) diseases that occur in other age periods, but have a clinic specific to a given V. and an increased frequency of occurrence (diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, rheumatism, etc.).

During the puberty period, growth is accelerated - the average increase is 10 cm per year, which corresponds to the growth rate of a 2-year-old child. The maximum increase in body length occurs at the beginning of emissions and menstruation. Girls' height and weight at 11-15 years of age are on average greater than boys. During this period, signs of sexual dimorphism, individual and typological features of appearance and body proportions finally develop. The maximum increase in body length occurs a year later than that of the lower limbs. In girls, after intensive growth of the lower extremities, the diameter of the pelvis and the width of the chest begin to increase; in boys, there is a maximum increase in the diameter of the pelvis, then a final stretching of the torso, an increase in the volume of the chest.

The most important and characteristic indicator of the development of various periods of childhood V. is the formation of c. n. With. Following the improvement of the functions of analyzers, there is the development of complex mental and psycho-motor activity inherent only to humans. Moreover, particularly pronounced changes occur during the first year of life, when each month is accompanied by qualitatively new, tangible indicators of development, which make it possible to fairly accurately and objectively differentiate these small stages of life, which is impossible to achieve in any other age periods. Thus, the appearance of the first smile in response to an adult conversation occurs at the age of 1 month, at 4 months. the child stands steadily on his feet with outside support, the appearance of babbling (pronouncing individual syllables) - at 6 months, responding to elementary questions while pointing to the objects they are asking about - 9 months; independent stable support on the legs - at 11 months. etc.

With age, conversational speech gradually develops (the first simple meaningful words at 11 months); by the age of 3, the speech reserve reaches 1200-1500 words, the child begins to understand the meaning of speech about events not related to his personal experience, and speaks in complex phrases.

A characteristic indicator of the age dynamics of a child in the first year of life is the disappearance of his specific reflexes, the so-called. reflexes of reverse development (primitive, physiol, reflexes of newborns). They are caused by the activity of predominantly the thalamo-pallidal system due to the immaturity of the cerebral cortex and, as the latter matures, undergo reverse development. Each of the reflexes (Robinson, Moreau, Magnus-Klein, search, palm-oral, “setting sun”, “doll eyes”, proboscis, swimming, crawling, automatic walking, etc.) disappears at certain age intervals, and by the end of the first By the age of one year, the child acquires a neurological status that is almost identical to that of an adult.

In preschool V. further complication and differentiation of mental development occurs. The influence of inhibitory processes is more pronounced. The child actively perceives the world around him, assimilates moral concepts and ideas about responsibilities, and shows great interest in children. Many children begin to read and write and easily master elements of a foreign language.

During the school period, the development of complex forms of behavior continues, and individual characteristics are formed. Adolescents are increasingly showing behavior patterns associated with hormonal changes. Thinking is characterized by a tendency to abstraction and generalization.

During the age periods of childhood, the functional characteristics of various organs and systems (for example, frequency and depth of breathing, pulse, blood pressure, electrical activity of the brain, etc.) naturally change with fairly defined quantitative indicators; shifts are noted in the quantitative indicators of a number of biochemicals. blood values ​​(residual nitrogen, urinary acid, amino acids and proteins, sugar, enzymes, lipids, mucopolysaccharides, hormones, etc.) and the excretion of these substances in the urine.

With age, a child's nutritional needs change. Due to intensive growth, the protein requirement is much higher than in adults. So, up to 3 years of age, a child needs 2-4.0 g, and adults 1.1-1.3 g of protein per 1 kg of body weight. The need for carbohydrates at an early age is 12-14 g, and for older children - 10-12 g per 1 kg of body weight. The intensity of carbohydrate metabolism is increased (in newborns the glycolytic pathway of glucose metabolism predominates).

With age, the specific and nonspecific reactivity of the body changes. It has been established that immunological tolerance, i.e. the inability of the fetus and newborn to synthesize immunoglobulins, is no longer considered indisputable. It has been proven that the fetus synthesizes macro-globulins. During the process of immunological maturation in healthy newborns, the sequence of synthesis of different classes of immunoglobulins changes (see).

At the end of adolescence and adulthood, the morpho-functional development of the organism is completed; the severity of indicators of morpho-functional development is largely influenced by the constitutional characteristics of the body (see Constitution), and the difference in indicators among extreme constitutional types can be quite sharp. Depending on the constitutional affiliation, V. also varies significantly, in which morpho-functional characteristics receive the final expression inherent in a mature state. This determines the discrepancy between the chronological and biological dates. IN.

The increase in human life expectancy, advances in gerontology, age-related physiology and other sciences about human biology have made significant changes in the classification of late age periods.

Psychology

Middle age for most people is often accompanied by corresponding psychological problems. This period is called a crisis. It manifests itself in frequent depression, apathy, rethinking of values, attitudes towards others, etc.

A person begins to understand that the best years of his life are behind him, the inevitable decline is approaching, nothing can be corrected or returned.

Not everyone can cope with the condition on their own; some require the help of a qualified psychologist. To do this, you need to make an appointment with a specialist. Psychology is a subtle science. To comprehend it, specialized education is required. Reading the relevant books will not solve the issue.

A video about the problem and psychology will help you get answers to your questions and draw conclusions:

In order to cope with the crisis on your own and prevent a deterioration in your emotional state, it is worth finding a new meaning in life. This could be a hobby, charity, caring for others.

It is recommended to attend computer courses, classes for photographers, etc. This has a positive effect on your psychological state. A person does not experience discomfort, he does not have an inferiority complex when faced with modern technology. Some people find a new hobby or job this way.

Psychology and its aspects require special attention not only after forty, but from youth.

The crisis of thirty or the crisis of the meaning of life

The crisis of thirty years is, of course, a relative concept. It may come a little earlier or a little later. A crisis manifests itself in the fact that a person feels the need to radically change something in his life; a reassessment of values ​​occurs. This crisis also occurs differently for men and women. Women often change their priorities in family and career. Those who put all their energy into their careers until they were thirty begin to think about the importance of marriage and raising children. And those who have already started a family direct their energy to moving up the career ladder.

During a crisis, men change their lifestyle and work, and often think about changing their profession.

The severity of the crisis can also vary from a mild feeling that something is missing to chronic anxiety and depression.