It is believed that a person’s height increases only from birth till the age of 18 to 20 years. After this, the height of his body remains the same. In such a situation, the question arises that if there is no change in the height of a person’s body after 20 years, then why do they start looking shorter when they grow old. Let us answer the questions related to this in this article today.
When does the body length start decreasing
According to the report of Live Science, when a person’s age is between 40 and 50, the body stops making bones. Apart from this, the density of bones also starts decreasing at this age. Gradually, when the length and width of the bones start decreasing, the body of humans starts bending.
A report published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1999 claimed that between the ages of 30 and 70, men lose 1.2 inches in height and women lose about 2 inches. To conduct this research, a study was conducted on 2084 people.
Spinal cord can also be a reason
The human spine is made up of 24 bones and the intervertebral discs located between them. These discs work like cushions, whose job is to absorb shocks. When you are young, these discs are filled with fluid and are flexible.
These help in maintaining the height of a person. But as age increases, the amount of fluid in these discs starts decreasing. Due to this, the length of the spinal cord starts decreasing. Although this process happens at a very slow pace, it continues continuously and with age its effect starts showing in the height of a person.
Understand from the angle of bone density
Apart from the spine, the decrease in bone density also becomes the reason for the decrease in body height with increasing age. Actually, the density of bones starts decreasing with increasing age. Especially in women, this process becomes faster after menopause, when the level of estrogen hormone starts decreasing. Due to the decrease in bone density, their structure starts weakening, due to which they shrink and a decrease in height is seen.
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