Age related diseases (ARD) are the diseases which occur normally with the advancing age and to be more suffice ARD are age and life style related diseases. Aging creeps on at a snails pace in the beginning but gathers momentum in the middle age.If healthy life styles are violated the speed of ageing becomes faster.

Two factors have necessitated to treat ARD more vigoursely:

1. Average age of man is increasing because of better preventive and curative health services and the number of aged is also increasing accordingly.

No. of Aged Persons ( Above 60 yrs. ) as per U.N.Survey

2. Due to the advent of small family concept age should not be seen as a social liability caricatoured by selfish society rather they should be seen as agents bestowers,contributors and beneficiaries of modern development.

Two Types of Ages

1. Chronological (Calender) Age - This depends upon the chronological clock and like time cannot be halted.

2. Physical Age - This depends upon a hypothetical biological clock. Physical age is closely linked with general physical, mental, psychological, clinical states of mind and body. This can be stayed or slowed down by healthy life style modifications.

In principle two ages should not only match rather physical age should not precede chronological age. For example a 70 yrs. chronological aged person having healthy life styles and disease free state may appear to be 59 yrs. old in terms of physical age. Vice versa a 50 yrs. old chronological aged person with unhealthy life styles and with early onset of age related diseases may be equal to 70 yrs. in terms of physical age. Aim to stay or slow physical ageing is not to achieve immortality but to decrease infirmities and disabilities of old age as well as to enjoy life rather than to avoid death besides looking younger at old age.

Classification Of Age Related Diseases

1. Osteoarthritis of Joints and Spine - Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of joint surfaces. Commonly knee, hipand joints of the spine are involved.

2. Coronary Heart Disease - With the advancing age and bad life style the coronary artiries which supply nutrition to the heart muscle get blocked due to the deposition of cholestrol deposits. As a result heart muscle gets less nutrition and heart disease starts.

3. Hypertension (High Blood Pressure) - As the age advances there is hardening of the blood vessels and decrease in the elasticity, as a result pressure inside arteries rises.

4. Diabetes Mellitees

5. Malignant Diseases (Cancer)

6. Miscellaneous Old Age Diseases like:

   a) Cataract [opacification of lens of eye ball]
   b) Ottosclerosis[deafness]
   c) Enlarged prostrate [difficulty in passing urine]
   d) Alzeimer’s disease [progressive loss of memory]