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When you picture an older person, you may imagine someone shorter and slightly stooped. It's not just your imagination: most of us gradually lose some height as we age.

Here's what the science says, and when it can signal an underlying health problem.

Most lasting height loss happens in the spine. Think of the spine as a tower of bony blocks separated by water-filled cushions. The blocks are the vertebrae, and the cushions are intervertebral discs.

Over time, these discs lose water, change their structure and become less effective at maintaining the space between vertebrae.

A change of a few millimeters for each disc may sound trivial, but across the 23 intervertebral discs these small changes add up to a noticeable loss of height.

The gap between adjacent vertebrae is called the joint space. In some instances, a loss of this space can manifest as back pain or difficulty bending in certain ways.

It's not just a reduction in joint space, though. The alignment of the spine can also change over a lifespan. We naturally have an S-shaped curve to our spines. When that curve becomes exaggerated through age-related spinal changes, the head and shoulders move forward, causing us to measure shorter.

One factor that can contribute to this is muscle and ligament strength. Ligaments are tough bands of connective tissue that join bones. These can lose tension and strength with age, contributing to changes in posture and spinal height.

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