Average American starts feeling old at age 47, study reveals

How old is old? Average American feels the effects of aging at 47 and 65% say growing older is among their greatest fears, study finds

  • A survey asked 2,000 Americans questions about getting old
  • Respondents said they started to feel effects of aging at 47 year old
  • The survey showed that 65% of participants worry about their brain health
  • Many said they lose their train of thought at least once throughout the day
  • Others not that they forget peoples names shortly after meeting them 

They say you are only as old as you feel, but a new survey has identified the age when most Americans feel their glory days have come to an end.

Results show that the average American starts feeling old at the age of 47 and worry of age-related bodily changes sets in around 50 years old.

The study found that 64 percent of respondents are concerned about their thinking abilities, with many nothing they forget people’s names after meeting them and lose their train of thought at least once per day.

Although growing old is imminent, 65 percent of the 2,000 participants said it is one of their greatest fears.

They say you are only as old as you feel, but a new survey has identified the age when most Americans feel their glory days have come to an end. Results show that the average American starts feeling old at the age of 47 and worry of age-related bodily changes sets in around 50 years old

The study was commissioned by Elysium Health, which set out to find an age at which Americans feel old and it seems 47 is when people feel past their prime.

Respondents also showed that an aging brain is also a concern, as this was mentioned by 56 percent of the participants.

Study Finds notes that although the number seems incredibly high, many of those surveyed said they have a family history or age-related memory loss.

Approximately 25 percent reported losing their train of thought at least once per day and 20 percent find it happens multiple times in one day.

The study found that 64 percent of respondents are concerned about their thinking abilities, with many nothing they forget people’s names after meeting them and lose their train of thought at least once per day

The study found that 64 percent of respondents are concerned about their thinking abilities, with many nothing they forget people’s names after meeting them and lose their train of thought at least once per day

More than half of the 2,000 participants forget a person’s name shortly after meeting them and 38 percent do not recall their significant other’s birthday right away when asked.

And although many are concerned about losing brain power, 84 percent say they are not taking action to improve it.

Elysium Health CEO Eric Marcotulli said: ‘While more than half of respondents correctly identified that excessive alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and lack of sleep all accelerate the rate of brain volume loss that occurs as we age, only 41 percent thought that poor eating habits would also have an impact.’

‘Unfortunately, it is not surprising that most people do not associate dietary choices with long-term brain health.

‘Despite the general understanding that omega-3s are good for brain health, 80% of Americans do not get the two weekly servings of fatty fish recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.’ 

As an aging brain is people’s biggest worries, scientists are working on ways to avoid this problem.

A team at Northwestern University found zapping older people’s brains could sharpen their memories to be as good as those of people decades younger.

Scientists found stimulating a certain part of the brain boosted the memory of over-64s who had normal age-related memory loss.

It worked so well the researchers saw no difference in the test results of volunteers who’d had the therapy and younger, healthier adults.

Their 16 participants were aged between 64 and 80 years old and had normal levels of memory problems for their age.

After five days of having their brain zapped with low-level electrical currents for 20 minutes per day, their memory ability was on par with people years younger.

‘Older people’s memory got better up to the level that we could no longer tell them apart from younger people,’ said the lead investigator, Dr Joel Voss.

‘They got substantially better.’