Researchers from the University of Michigan said that beta cell function declines with old age. This causes impaired insulin secretion, leading to diabetes. They say that a sedentary lifestyle has similar effects to eating junk food and smoking when it comes to acquiring diabetes and heart disease.
However, there maybe hope for them yet. Another study, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, states that even short-term exercise positively affects the beta cell function and therefore increases insulin sensitivity. The findings show that after exercising, there was a 53 percent increase in insulin sensitivity and 28 percent improvement in beta cell function.
If you’re a family member or a care giver, and your elderly patient is immobile or sedentary most of the time, you should first look out for one particular symptom: a red spot on a particular area. Once it gets light, dry, flaky, ashy, or warmer than other parts of the body, then treat it immediately. For more on this, check our last post.
There are four stages of a pressure sore:
Stage 1: damage is limited on the first top two layers of the skin. Skin is still ok, the redness doesn’t turn white when touched.
Stage 2: the first top two layers are now damaged. The sore has an abrasion or small crater.
Stage 3: the ulcer now appears as a deep crater and damage to adjacent skin is obvious
Stage 4: all soft tissues are destroyed.
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Diabetes is something the elderly should avoid as much as possible. One of the main factors increasing the risk for diabetes is heavy weight. Below are some tips to consider:
- Check your body mass index (BMI) and waist size regularly. Although these are not perfect indicators of a healthy weight, they’re a good guide for most people.
- Think about what you’re eating. Choose a balanced diet that includes a mix of carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats.
- Commit to becoming more active, especially if you are sedentary now. Start slowly. Gradually increase how much you walk each day.
- Get your blood sugar checked. If it is slightly high, but not high enough for the diagnosis of diabetes, take action.
- If you are obese and have health problems related to excess weight (including diabetes), consider weight loss surgery.
Diabetes is one of the chronic diseases that the elderly get. The risk of developing the Type 2 diabetes is high and eventually the body resists insulin altogether and cardiovascular disease sets in. Unless proper health care is applied the elderly will suffer.
Here are just some of the issues that effects proper health care:
Solutions include, getting assistance from the local government or church and volunteer community.
In order to see cartilage loss, subchondral sclerosis, cysts, or bone spur formations, an X-ray will be needed to detect these things. Another way of diagnosing osteoarthritis is through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), arthoscopy, or arthocentesis. The more cheaper way of diagnosing osteoarthritis is by carefully studying the appearance of the joints of the affected area.
As of the moment there is no cure in alleviating this ailment. The only thing that doctors focus on right now is on taking away the pain. Listed below are just some of the ways to do this:
As always check with your doctor first.
Motor system affects the movement of a person. Parkinson’s disease is a motor system disorder. Usually occurs in late middle age, it can cause trembling of the hands, arms, and other parts of the body, stiffness, slowed movements, or balance problems. There are known cases that this can occur at an earlier age.
The elderly population is rising and so are the diseases or conditions connected to old age. One of these is arthritis. It is supposed to be one of the more chronic conditions among 49 percent of adults above the age of 65. It is reported that by 2020, arthritis will be up by 18.2 percent, affecting approximately 59 million people.
Osteoarthritis is one of the more common types of affliction affecting the elderly. It’s a condition where inflammation results in pain in the joints. It’s caused by abnormal wearing of the cartilage in between two joints.
More on how it’s diagnosed and treated in the next post.
Epilepsy is a seizure disorder in the brain. Tiny electric charges causes our brains work. A cases of person with epilepsy, this tiny electrical charges suddenly gets unusually bigger for a very short time that causing seizures that results into convulsions and shaking. Young people could have this disease but this condition is more common among the older generation.
Those who are of senior ages, or senior citizens as we call our grandma’s and our grandpa’s are more prone to diseases, much like children are. This is because the older we get, the lesser our cells become. The brain cells are the first to go. They fail to regenerate much more multiply after we reach a certain age. This is why adults are advised to make the most of their youthful lives while they can. That they do not waste it behind office doors because after they have crossed over their say, forties, and this is saying they are lucky enough not to contract a disease of two during their thirties, they will have become almost unable to go simple tasks that they have been so used to as young individuals. Senior diseases are simple by nature by what makes them complicated is the body’s natural deteriorated state which disables natural fast healing.
For our body to work properly, we actually need the fat like substance called cholesterol. But too much cholesterol in the blood is not good for the body. If this condition is left untreated, a person’s chance of having heart disease increased. To check the level of cholesterol present in the body a person has to have a blood test.