This is a quite full and exhaustive list of aging signs.

1. Muscle mass decreases. (muscle/weight/height Body Mass Index Increases)

2. Fat increases as a percentage of body weight.

3. Strength, energy and speed of the body decreases.

4. Base Metabolic Rate (metabolism) decreases.

5. Aerobic Capacity, the capacity to process oxygen, decreases. Red blood cells as a percentage of total blood volume (hematocrit) decreases until the average at age 90 is what is considered to be “anemia” at age 40.

6. Body cells become resistant to insulin.

7. LDL Cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) and triglicerides increase, and HDL Cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) falls.

8. Blood pressure increases.

9. Bone mineral density decreases.

10. Density of calcium in circulatory system increases.

11. Kidney functions decrease.

12. We lose neurons in our brain. This leads to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Senile Dementia.

13. The vagus nerve, the longest nerve in our body, deteriorates… and all the nervous system surely also deteriorates.

14. Growth Hormone secretion drops.

15. Testosterone in men, and estrogen and progesterone in women, drops.

Strength and energy of your body decreases

16. Sexual desire drops.

17. Thyroid (a hormone which affects metabolism) drops.

18. melatonine (a hormone which regulates the body clock) drops.

19. DHEA (a hormone precursor to testosterone and estrogen) drops.

20. EPO, (erythropoyetin, a hormone which stimulates the production of new red blood cells) drops.

21. Estradiol, a female hormone, increases in men.

22. Cortisol, “the Death Hormone,” increases.

23. Good enzymes (Super Oxidase Dimutase, etc.) drop.

24. A bad enzyme, MAO-B increase in the brain. MAO-B destroys neurons that produce dopamine, which is a neuro-transmitter.

25. Aromatase enzyme, a bad enzyme, increases. Aromatase converts testosterone to estrogen in men, which deprives him of libido.

26. The thickness of skin decreases, resulting in more wrinkles.

27. Prolactin, a female hormone, increases in the body of a male, presumably depriving him of some sexual libido.

28. Water proportion in the body and in the skin, drops. This results (among other things) in dryer skin, and more wrinkles.

29. Sense of hearing drops.

30. Sense of taste drops… “everything tastes the same”

31. Sense of vision, especially capacity to read small letters in low light, decreases.

32. Hair falls and loses its color (it becomes white).

33. The thymus gland, the master of the immune system, shrinks and atrophys, thus lessening our immune system.

34. Our liver, brain, and other critical organs shrink in size, thus affecting their functions.

35. Lipofuscine (“liver spots”) accumulates in our hands and our brains. This snuffs out many neurons in our brain.

36. The circulatory system deteriorates in length and width.

37. The velocity of blood flow decreases.

38. Inflammation increases in our body.

39. “Deep sleep” becomes more scarce and less profound.

40. Digestion becomes slower and less complete.

41. The retina of the eye becomes thinner, in many cases detaching.

42. The macula of the eye loses some of its shape after age 40, and causes distorted vision.

43. Micro-vessels in the eye pop, covering the retina, causing partial loss of vision, or complete blindness.

44. Night-vision decreases.

45. The density of active melanocytes in the skin is reduced by 10% to 20% every 10 years, starting in our late 30′s and 40′s. Melanin determines our normal skin color and attempts to protect our skin from severe sun damage. As we age, our melanocytes begin to function less effectively.

from http://articlesofhealth.blogspot.com/

Mature woman or senescent woman?

Once you notice that your eyes no longer shine as bright as they used to when you were younger. Examining your face in the mirror you can see a lot of vertical wrinkles that you’ve never pay attention to before. And when did those freckles on your hands appear? You may wonder, how a woman that you see in the mirror resembles your mother.

You feel afraid and depressed at the understanding that the youth slips by, the life is half lived and you turn to a woman of ” the certain age ” as French say. This is the moment of realization that you begin to age. The moment, when you captiously peer into yourself and start meditating upon the years left behind: “What did I do until now? “, “Where do I go? “, “What do I want to do in the rest of my life? “. But it’s also the time when you can occupy yourself entirely with your own development and finally do the things that you used to put off till tomorrow.

But when does it happen? Some women begin to feel old and reckon themselves in middle age when they aren’t forty yet. The others start thinking they aren’t young anymore attaining forty years. There are also women feeling youthful after fifty years. And though we usually consider that the transition from the youth to the mature age happens in the middle of our life, it occurs to everyone differently.

Do you know, how often do the women, who haven’t even yet celebrated their thirtieth birthday, look for wrinkles and baggy skin below the eyes? They want to make sure that they have no physical signs of aging and look young. Because the most of us judge the end of youth and the beginning of aging exactly over the appearance of physical changes. No one wants to meet the middle of life with a net of wrinkles under the eyes, wan skin color, gray hair and flabby breasts and belly. Even if you chef finds you an efficient expert and your husband thinks you’re very attractive and sexy, you can’t pass unnoticed the changes occurring to your body.

It’s time to look into yourself and ask a question: are you a mature woman or an aging woman? Your inner voice will tell how old your soul feels.