DEVELOPMENT NOTES (LOA)
PIES Development in Middle Adulthood
Physical Development
At this stage, many individuals experience an event called the
middle age spread, when both men and women put on a little
more weight, and this is due to minimal movement, as well as
no changes to diet.
Other physical changes that can occur in the body during this
stage of life can include:
Less collagen being produced
Fine and Gross motor skills begin to decline
Less elasticity in the skin
Loss of muscle tone
Greying hair
Presbycusis – The loss of hearing of high-pitched sounds
Presbyopia – The blurring of close-up vision, which
worsens over time
Hair loss
Perimenopause and Menopause
Perimenopause – Women tend to produce less oestrogen by the
time they reach their 40s, producing less to no eggs during
every menstrual cycle. Perimenopause marks the ending of
female fertility and usually lasts 4-10 years. Symptoms can
include irregular periods, hot flushes, trouble sleeping, mood
swings, breast tenderness, a loss of libido (sex drive), fatigue,
and discomfort during sex.
Menopause – This is the gradual end of menstruation, when the
woman stops having periods entirely, and there’s a large
reduction of fertile eggs in the ovaries. The hormone
Gonadotropin, which was once used for stimulating egg
production, causes hot flushes and irritability at this stage.