Publisher's Synopsis
Ageing has been talked about in all religions and philosophical schools. These schools have talked about in depth about both challenges and opportunities related with ageing. In daily life, there is a negative connotation attached with the concept of ageing. However, age simply means, "to become mature over a period of time under fixed conditions", more technically ageing can be defined as: "series of time dependent anatomical and physical changes that reduce physiological reserve and functional capacity, although the term refers to the positive process of maturation or acquiring a desirable quality" (Ahmed and Tollefsbol 2001).
According to the multifold concept, ageing can be distinguished into two forms of ageing: Primary and Secondary ageing. Primary ageing basically concerns itself with biologically processes, which are time dependent. These time dependent processes over time become detrimental to the organism. Secondary process, on the other hand, concerns itself with, environmental factors which are dangerous to the organism such as trauma, illness etc (Busse 1969).
Some scholars have defined the concept of ageing, having multidimensional nature (Birren and Birren 1990). First, Chronological age has to do with number of years from the time of birth. Second, Biological age has to do with estimate of present position of an individual with respect to his/her potential life span. Thirdly, Psychological age has to do with adaptive capacities of an individual. Fourthly, Functional age refers to a person's ability to function within given environment. Finally, Social age has to do with roles people have for themselves.
