When we say older people shrink (皱缩)， we don’t mean they become small enough to fit in your pocket! We just mean that it’s common for every older person to become a little shorter over time. It isn’t dramatic or sudden. It takes place over years and may add up to only an inch or so off their adult height. This kind of shrinking can’t be reversed, although people can slow down or stop this process. But why does shrinking happen at all?
As people get older , they generally lose some muscles and fat from their bodies as part of the natural aging process. Gravity , the force that keeps your feet on the ground, takes hold of it. Also, the disks between the bones in the spine (脊骨) get shortened over time height and become shorter.
Another reason why some older people shink is osteoporosis (骨质疏松). Osteoporosis happens when too much spongy bone tissue is broken down and not enough new bone material is made. Over time, bone is said to be lost because it’s ont being replaced. Bones become smaller and weaker and can easily breakif someone with osteopo9rosis is injured.
Older people—especially women who generally have smaller and lighter bones to begin with—are more likely to develop osteoporosis. As years go by, a person with osteoporosis can get small breaks in bones that are called compression fractures (骨折). These breaks cause breakdown of the vertebrae and over time the person with osteoporosis can become bent over. Research shows that smoking and drinking alcohol can make this problem worse.

当我们说，老年人萎缩（皱缩） ，我们并不意味着他们成为小到足以适合在你的口袋！我们只是意味着它的每一个年长的人变得有点短，随着时间的推移。这不是戏剧或支吾以对。它发生过几年有可能会增加最多只有一英寸或使自己的成人身高。这种萎缩不能扭转，尽管人们可以放慢或停止这一进程。但为何萎缩发生这回事呢？
随着人们变老，他们普遍失去一些肌肉和脂肪从自己的身体的一部分，自然衰老进程。重力，部队，可以让你的脚在地面上，需把握。此外，磁盘之间的骨骼脊椎（脊骨）得到缩短，在一段时间内身高和越来越短。
另一个原因是一些年纪较大的人shink是骨质疏松症（骨质疏松） 。骨质疏松症发生的时候，太多的海绵骨组织被分解，并没有足够的新型骨材料。随着时间的推移，骨可说是失去了，因为它的安省被取代。骨骼变得弱小，并可以很容易breakif有人osteopo9rosis受伤。
老一辈的人-特别是妇女，他们一般都规模较小和较轻的骨头，首先-更有可能发展骨质疏松症。作为多年过去了，一个人有了骨质疏松症可以得到小时段在骨头是所谓的压缩性骨折（骨折） 。这些时段事业细分的椎骨随着时间的推移，人的骨质疏松症患者可以成为执意要结束了。研究表明，吸烟和饮酒，可以使这个问题恶化。