Do people shrink as they get older or are they just hunched or stooped?

Question

Do people shrink as they get older or are they just hunched or stooped?

Answer 1

People really do shrink.

Answer 2

Loss of fluid in the spinal discs, causes a loss of height, as does your instep dropping. So you will find you go up half a shoe size and lose half an inch in height.

Answer 3

its a combination of several factors but mainly caused by the cartilage spinal disks in the lower back shrinking because of being constantly compressed and can't regenerate fast enough in comparison to a younger person.

your tendons loosen and your muscles also shrink so you're less able to hold a good posture and you eventually become more and more hunched.

the constant stooping along with the bones losing its densities also cause micro-fractures in your upperback that increase this process even more. spinal stenosis is the medical term for this by the way and starts in your mid-30's for most people.

so oh yeah, definitely no lie that we all want to stay young forever =P

Answer 4

They do shrink.    Loss of cartilage and shrinking of spinal discs causes most of it.   I have lost an inch or more and many older people has reported the same thing.

Answer 5

Older people are sometimes hunched over because of bone deficiencies. This usually happens by drinking soda for a long time. Because there is more phosphorous than calcium in soda, our bodies try to balance it out by removing calcium from our bones and adding it to the ingested soda. People probably shrink because of the effects of gravity after many years. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

A little of both.  The spinal disks in older people are more "squashed" than in young people -- resulting in some loss of height.  I was 5'10" tall.  I am now 5'9".

Answer 7

they just hunch becuase of back pains and problems...

and oldness...its a thing of age...the cycle repeats...

you're small when ure born as you'll be when you're old...