6 Health problems of the elderly and how to managing those

This week we thought of sharing an interesting article which you may also find relevant. So, here it goes:

It is a no-brainer that aging causes our body organs to get old too. This results in a range of health problems in old age.

According to the National Council on Aging, close to 92% of elderly have at least one chronic disease, and 77% have at least two.

Being aware of the common health problems that seniors may face helps plan for the prevention of any impending health emergency. Here are 6 most common health conditions among the elderly and ways to manage those:

1. Heart disease:

Heart is one of the most vital body organs that pumps blood to various parts of the body. Aging can cause changes in the heart and blood vessels and thus, increase chances of heart disease. This is a chronic condition that causes close to two-third of all deaths among the aged. The concern gets manifold since the symptoms of heart disease are not always apparent and are highly likely to get ignored.

Ways to prevent and manage heart-related ailments in elderly include

• Keeping check and restricting the intake of bad fats (trans fats and saturated fats).

• Cutting down on alcohol (or remove it altogether) and quit smoking

• Exercising at least 20-30 minutes every day

• Limiting daily salt intake to reduce sodium consumption

2. Diabetes:

This is chiefly a lifestyle-related condition that results in an inability to process sugar by the body. High blood sugar can have serious long-term effects on health and also lead to kidney disease, heart disease etc. The risk of getting diabetes increases as one ages. In fact, adults aging 65 or older are at a greater risk of becoming diabetic.

Ways to prevent and manage diabetes in elderly include

• Avoiding a sedentary lifestyle and keeping active in day-to-day routine

• Reducing carbohydrate and unhealthy fat in the diet

• Testing blood sugar levels from time to time

• Taking medicines (and not skipping any dose) as advised by your doctor

3. Dehydration:

Dehydration implies body lacking enough levels of fluid. Absence of adequate body fluid can have an adverse impact in old age because it can be linked to other serious problems like urinary tract infections, electrolyte imbalance etc.

Ways to prevent and manage dehydration in elderly:

• Drinking at least 3 litres of water every day. People with heart failure need to be watchful of excess water intake.

• Limiting the intake of fluid-depleting drinks like alcohol and caffeinated beverages

• Consuming fruits, herbal teas etc.

4. Chronic constipation:

Not able to defecate properly and feeling full is a fairly common problem among the elderly. Although it may not have any immediate serious implication yet when it becomes frequent and severe, it can lead to troublesome issues such as bloating, indigestion, nausea and stomach pain. The major cause of constipation can be as simple as a lack of physical activity and fibre in diet.

Ways to prevent and manage constipation in elderly:

• Including more fruits and green leafy vegetables in diet

• Keeping well-hydrated

• Exercising regularly to maintain healthy bowel movement

• Seeking expert help if the lifestyle changes do not help

5. Conditions related to mental health:

Similar to physical health, mental health tends to deteriorate with age. This pretty well explains why around 15% of people aged 60 and above are effected with at least one mental health condition. Elderly people are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, depression and anxiety.

Ways to cope with most of these mental health problems need a customized approach. However, the following steps can help:

• Staying connected with neighbours, family and friends.

• Adopting a pet

• Picking-up a new hobby like gardening, knitting, pottery etc.

6. Bone and joint related disorders:

Conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and muscle aches are common in elderly. In fact, arthritis affects almost half of all people of age 65 and older. Bone and joint related disorders can have a massive impact on the quality of life as they affect your participation in daily activities.

Ways to manage symptoms related to bone, muscle and joint-related conditions in elderly include:

• Participating in physical activities within your range of movements

• Taking enough of calcium and vitamin D rich foods to never fall short of these nutrients

• Ensuring adequate exposure to the Sun

• Including various anti-inflammatory foods in the daily diet such as nuts, seeds, fatty fish etc.

• Getting tested for arthritis and related conditions as and when advised by doctor

• Having fall support in bathrooms to avoid any accidental fall

Along with following measures to prevent or manage health conditions among the elderly, make sure to shower your love and care in every possible way! That’s indispensable.

Source: https://www.metropolisindia.com/blog/health-wellness/common-health-problems-in-elderly-and-ways-to-manage-them-right/

Porosh launches new service – Apatkal

Since inception one of the driving principle’s of Porosh has been relentless focus on customer needs. We sincerely believe Porosh owes its existence to its members and hence, duty-bound to address any explicit, or implicit need that may arise. But, we do not rest merely at that.

We receive requests for specific services which may not necessarily fit-in with the set of packages – four to be precise – on offer. In other words, such needs are unique and wide-ranging. Over a period of time we observed that the need for only ‘emergency hospitalization’ assistance comes right at the top. That is how Apatkal (emergency) came into being and it is distinct from Aastha, Sneho, Nischinta and Parisheba.

Under Apatkal, we not only arrange for ambulance and paperwork needed to be done at the time of admission but also complete insurance/ mediclaim related work alongside discharge procedures at the time of release.

It may be noted that a member has to bear expenses related to hiring of ambulance and follow-up visits.

Thus, Porosh now offers a wide-array of packages to fulfill as many varied needs of members as possible. It has been ensured that Apatkal package is economically priced so that money does not come in the way of life and death situations of senior citizens.

For details you may contact us at +91 9147096668 / +91 7439852047

Ageing and health: A World Health Organization (WHO) analysis

Key facts

• Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22%.

• By 2020, the number of people aged 60 years and older will outnumber children younger than 5 years.

• In 2050, 80% of older people will be living in low- and middle-income countries.

• The pace of population ageing is much faster than in the past.

• All countries face major challenges to ensure that their health and social systems are ready to make the most of this demographic shift.

Overview

People worldwide are living longer. Today most people can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older persons in the population.

By 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. At this time the share of the population aged 60 years and over will increase from 1 billion in 2020 to 1.4 billion. By 2050, the world’s population of people aged 60 years and older will double (2.1 billion). The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million.

While this shift in distribution of a country's population towards older ages – known as population ageing – started in high-income countries (for example in Japan 30% of the population is already over 60 years old), it is now low- and middle-income countries that are experiencing the greatest change. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population over 60 years will live in low- and middle-income countries.

Ageing explained

At the biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease and ultimately death. These changes are neither linear nor consistent, and they are only loosely associated with a person’s age in years. The diversity seen in older age is not random. Beyond biological changes, ageing is often associated with other life transitions such as retirement, relocation to more appropriate housing and the death of friends and partners.

Common health conditions associated with ageing

Common conditions in older age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression and dementia. As people age, they are more likely to experience several conditions at the same time.

Older age is also characterized by the emergence of several complex health states commonly called geriatric syndromes. They are often the consequence of multiple underlying factors and include frailty, urinary incontinence, falls, delirium and pressure ulcers.

Factors influencing healthy ageing

A longer life brings with it opportunities, not only for older people and their families, but also for societies as a whole. Additional years provide the chance to pursue new activities such as further education, a new career or a long-neglected passion. Older people also contribute in many ways to their families and communities. Yet the extent of these opportunities and contributions depends heavily on one factor: health.

Evidence suggests that the proportion of life in good health has remained broadly constant, implying that the additional years are in poor health. If people can experience these extra years of life in good health and if they live in a supportive environment, their ability to do the things they value will be little different from that of a younger person. If these added years are dominated by declines in physical and mental capacity, the implications for older people and for society are more negative.

Although some of the variations in older people’s health are genetic, most is due to people’s physical and social environments – including their homes, neighborhoods, and communities, as well as their personal characteristics – such as their sex, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. The environments that people live in as children – or even as developing fetuses – combined with their personal characteristics, have long-term effects on how they age.

Physical and social environments can affect health directly or through barriers or incentives that affect opportunities, decisions and health behavior. Maintaining healthy behaviors throughout life, particularly eating a balanced diet, engaging in regular physical activity and refraining from tobacco use, all contribute to reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases, improving physical and mental capacity and delaying care dependency.

Supportive physical and social environments also enable people to do what is important to them, despite losses in capacity. The availability of safe and accessible public buildings and transport, and places that are easy to walk around, are examples of supportive environments. In developing a public-health response to ageing, it is important not just to consider individual and environmental approaches that ameliorate the losses associated with older age, but also those that may reinforce recovery, adaptation and psychosocial growth.

Challenges in responding to population ageing.

There is no typical older person. Some 80-year-olds have physical and mental capacities similar to many 30-year-olds. Other people experience significant declines in capacities at much younger ages. A comprehensive public health response must address this wide range of older people’s experiences and needs.

The diversity seen in older age is not random. A large part arises from people’s physical and social environments and the impact of these environments on their opportunities and health behavior. The relationship we have with our environments is skewed by personal characteristics such as the family we were born into, our sex and our ethnicity, leading to inequalities in health.

Older people are often assumed to be frail or dependent and a burden to society. Public health professionals, and society as a whole, need to address these and other ageist attitudes, which can lead to discrimination, affect the way policies are developed and the opportunities older people have to experience healthy aging.

Globalization, technological developments (e.g., in transport and communication),

urbanization, migration and changing gender norms are influencing the lives of older people in direct and indirect ways. A public health response must take stock of these current and projected trends and frame policies accordingly.

(Adapted from an article published on Oct 4, 2021 in https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-Health#:~:text=Common%20conditions%20in%20older%20age,conditions%20at%20the%20same%20tim e.)