English Language · English

Based on the passage below, why is old age generally a depressing period? 'The functional declines of advancing age are depressing. The heart's ability to pump blood drops about one per cent; blood flows to arms and legs decrease by thirty to forty percent in old age. The amount of air a person can exhale after a deep breath lessens and the chest wall stiffens with age. However, recent studies have shown that most of those age-associated declines can be delayed by exercise. Exercise lowers the resting heart-rate and increases the amount of blood pumped with each beat in older people. When stress is placed on bones through exercise, calcium content rises, with the result that resistance to fracture is improved.'