1. Over the next thirty years, the number of people aged 60 and up will rise significantly. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were 900 million people in this age demographic in 2015. By 2050, this figure should rise to over 2 billion.

2. The WHO also notes that, while the number of elderly adults continues to increase, their quality of life has not significantly improved. Compared to thirty years ago, there has been little change in the amount of older individuals struggling with limited functionality.

3. While the elderly tend to be more affected by illness, it’s important to understand the nature of the diseases and conditions that affect those in their later years. Seniors often succumb to conditions such as heart disease, chronic lung disease and stroke. As dangerous as these health problems are, they are all non-communicable diseases. In other words, they are not contagious.

4. As people age, they may start to lose their senses of smell and taste. This can be due to a number of factors, such as medications, illnesses and allergies.

5. Another thing that changes as people get older is sleeping patterns. Older adults get tired earlier at night, and therefore go to bed sooner than those in younger age brackets. Consequently, many seniors also develop the habit of waking up earlier in the day.

6. You may have overheard seniors complain about getting shorter as the years go by. The reason for this has to do with the body’s spine; as time passes, the spaces between the spine’s vertebrae gets smaller and smaller. As a result, some adults might see their height shrink by as much as an inch.