6 Common Health Concerns As We Grow Older
Do you walk long distances and prefer the stairs to the elevator? Recall where you put your keys last night. If you answered yes to all of them, you may be in good form for your age. But the main issue is our poisoned environment. Pollution levels are historic highs. Everything has grown harmful, from our food to our water. Increased use of junk and canned foods has presented new health hazards. All of these negative factors have accelerated ageing.
Age may bring wisdom, but it also brings health difficulties. According to WHO, the world's population aged 60 and above will grow from 900 million in 2015 to 2 billion in 2050. Worst of all, 80% of these people will live in low- and middle-income countries. These countries already lack adequate healthcare facilities. The ageing population will place additional strain on the health care system.
These internal and external causes have exacerbated the situation for the elderly. Health issues are now more severe, unpleasant, and frustrating than ever. Despite advances in medical technology, not everyone has access to cutting-edge medical care. The majority, mostly in the poor globe, still has inefficient healthcare systems. Minor illnesses like flu, which most people in the West would disregard, become life-threatening for them. Aside from these challenges, ageing causes certain general health complications. This article discusses six of them.
1. Mental Weakness
Cognitive health is concerned with one's mental faculties. It includes reasoning, comprehension, and memory. Ageing certainly affects these talents. Dementia, or cognitive impairment, is a major health issue among the elderly. Globally, 50 million people suffer from dementia. Dementia causes forgetfulness, increased perplexity, behavioural abnormalities, and depression. Even in everyday contexts, such patients are difficult to communicate with. Also, medical workers must be specially trained to cope with them. As a result, unique modules on patient communication are increasingly included in nursing training programmes such as online MSN degrees.
2. Chronic Illnesses
Chronic illnesses cannot be cured. They become a part of your life as you try to control their symptoms with medication or treatment. Asthma, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are common health problems that develop as people age. According to the National Council on Aging, 92 percent of persons over the age of 65 have at least one chronic condition. At the same time, a whopping 77 percent of people have at least two of them. To manage these chronic illnesses, medical professionals should be consulted.
3. Undernourishment
It is not an exaggeration to state that starvation is the elderly's most ruthless concealed foe. It is mostly undetected among the elderly, particularly those above the age of 65. Malnutrition risks increase as people get older due to poor diet and a lack of attention on a well-balanced diet. The most serious difficulty is that it opens the door to a slew of additional health issues. Bones become brittle and muscles weak as a result of the lack of nourishment.
It can also cause osteoarthritis and bone fractures, among other musculoskeletal diseases. Malnutrition has a negative impact on the immune system as well. It compromises your natural defensive system, making you more susceptible to sickness.
4. Sensory Deficiencies
The impacts of growing older on the senses begin to manifest. With age, almost all of the five senses get impaired. The National Center for Biotechnology Information cited research findings about sensory impairment in those over the age of 70. According to them, one out of every six older Americans suffers from vision loss. And one in every four people has a hearing loss. Fortunately, modern advances in medical research have made it possible to address most of these health issues.
5. Bowel Issues
Other than age, malnutrition and other chronic disorders are key causes of digestive system difficulties. However, gastrointestinal disorders such as incontinence and constipation exacerbate the effects of ageing on one's quality of life. The digestive tract's operations are disrupted by decreased enzyme synthesis and acid maintenance efficiency. It irritates the digestive system, and weakened biological machinery exacerbates the problem, leading to increased bowel disorders like dyspepsia. Such gastrointestinal issues can only be avoided through correct dietary consumption.
6. Injury Potential
You fell down the stairs and only received minor bruises. Then you are unquestionably not a senior citizen. For the elderly, a single fall might result in a number of damaged bones. The skeletal system as a whole has weakened, bones have become more prone to fractures, and muscular strength has significantly decreased. In such circumstances, the risk of damage for older people increases tenfold. According to the National Council on Aging, an elderly person falls every 11 seconds, resulting in an emergency room visit. And one person dies every 19 minutes for the same reason. As a result, the elderly have a much higher injury fatality rate.
As a result, age with caution.
You can't stop ageing, but you can minimise its negative consequences. Our daily routine should be centred on leading a healthy lifestyle. We need to include not only physical but also mental activities in our daily routines. Life's complexity consumes much too much of our mental resources. We will never be able to reach the required physical health until we properly nourish our minds. In today's world, eating a well-balanced diet, keeping track of one's health, and getting plenty of exercises have all become essential. The current COVID-19 situation emphasises the importance of having a healthy immune system and sufficient cognitive strength to create essential emotional resilience. The elderly have been particularly hard struck by this pandemic. However, there are survivors of the Coronavirus infection, such as 103-year-old Chinese woman Zhang Guangfen. So it all boils down to assessing your existing lifestyle and adjusting to a healthy one. You can only prepare yourself to deal with the effects of ageing; you can't stop it from happening.
COVID19 And The Elderly
Since December 2019, the globe has been dealing with COVID-19, a serious viral disease caused by a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. The elderly and those with chronic illnesses have the most severe symptoms and danger of mortality. Chronic inflammation may predispose to a more severe progression of COVID-19. The chronic inflammatory condition of the elderly with psychiatric illnesses can exacerbate the immunological senescence of the age. Social isolation is still the best protection. However, loneliness and health issues can worsen mental health conditions. In this case, SARS-CoV-2 infection may worsen. The cytokine storm COVID-19 causes can predispose or exacerbate psychiatric illnesses. It may compromise the blood-brain barrier, causing CNS inflammation. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2 may directly inflame the neurological system. This review updates research on the elderly's mental health during the epidemic. It also analyses their vulnerability to stress and COVID-19, focusing on the stress' hormonal and inflammatory pathways. Finally, the review suggests possible care and attention measures, as well as entertainment and activities, to improve the elderly's quality of life. Abstract graph Isolation and COVID-19 fears may impair the elderly's mind. Immunosenescence and pandemic stress raise the chance of mental illness. Stress and anxiety may exacerbate COVID-19 symptoms in the elderly. Hyperinflammation from SARS-CoV-2 is linked to ageing mental problems.