What are the 3 stages of ageing?

In this video interview David Williams from My Longevity talks about the 3 stages of ageing, and how long each stage generally lasts.

Transcript

What are the 3 stages of ageing, and how long does each stage last?

About three years ago, some very interesting information started to become available, encouragingly from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which is a government policy institute that does this kind of research.

They showed that the rest of our life can typically be looked at in three stages. The simple names for those stages are when you’re able, how long you’re able. The next bit is when you’re less able and the final bit is when you’re dependent.

I’ll come to dependency later as a special item because it’s important, but at age 65, a typical 65 year old, male or female, has about a life expectancy of, let’s use a round figure of about 20 years. Women a bit longer, men, slightly less.

About half that typically will be able. About another six or seven years will be less able, and then there will be a period of dependency – about at age 65, or women, on average, about five years, for men, a bit over three years.

So for the first time we’ve got a sense of how things may play out. Now remember, these are averages, so they’re not necessarily you or me, but it’s a pretty useful rule of thumb to go by and when you think about your own circumstances and how you are, you’ll get a sense of whether you’re likely to be more able or less able for a period of time.