For your elderly loved ones who still live alone in their homes, it is only natural to worry about their safety and well being. But no matter how much you worry, they may be less safe than you realize. But the good news is that there are steps that you can take to boost the safety of their homes, which will make them more secure and increase the peace of mind for both you and your aging parents.
Retirement is often viewed through the lens of a financial planner, that is to say, when do you want to retire and how much will you need to save to do it? Work and save until you reach that number, and then stop. And the popular narrative is that once you reach that age and retire successfully, it becomes a time for reinvention and rebirth. The common question is “what will you do to fill the work shaped hole in your life?”
It is typically around 40 years of age that many people start to notice changes in their eyesight caused by aging. And in the United States, there are more than 142 million people that are currently over the age of 40. It is predicted that by the year 2030, more than 90 million people will be age 65 or older, and one in six of these people will have a vision impairment that will not be able to be corrected by glasses or contact lens. For people in these age groups, awareness of common eye symptoms can help them seek quicker treatment in order to prevent vision loss.
Family matters in a very important way when diabetes is the subject. Families often share the risk of diabetes. Knowing your family history is important. If you don’t know your family health history offhand, it’s time to do some research and ask around in the family. For example, who in your family is currently living with diabetes? And who may or may not have had it in the past? Knowing if your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents suffered from diabetes is important information. Knowing this can encourage you and other family members to be tested for diabetes, which is important because if undiagnosed and left untreated, the disease can lead to serious health problems, such as blindness, loss of mobility or limbs, kidney failure, and heart disease.
There are many things that must be taken into account when planning out our retirement years. Sorting out health care plans, looking over financials and planning for the future monetarily, securing living arrangements and planning for necessary changes, and how to maintain a healthy social network of connections with friends and family. But there is one thing that many seniors may neglect to plan for, which is taking steps to prevent a fall.
As your senior parents age, it's common for them to experience some decline in their cognitive abilities. These effects can lead to an unintentional mix-up in their pills and medications.
As the clocks change during daylight savings time, seniors with dementia may find it disorienting. There are ways you can make it easier.
Today, there is a marked increase in emphasis on reducing prejudice in society and examining our own biases based around human traits like race, religion, gender, sexual orientation and identity, and other characteristics. Ironically, though, in discussions of bigotry, many young people and even some seniors themselves, will often make snide remarks about “old people” who do not share their attitudes or vote in the same way as them. Remarks like this lump all seniors into one bucket.
A healthy diet is important for your overall bodily health, but it’s also very important for the health of your eyes. Proper nutrition that provides essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants can help you in the prevention of serious eye conditions. A healthy diet can keep you from developing eye conditions such as cloudy vision due to cataracts, vision impairment from age related macular degeneration, glaucoma, dryness of eyes, and poor nighttime vision. Oxidants can damage our health in negative ways unless counteracted by the intake of antioxidants in the diet.
To a doctor, the way an older adult walks can reveal a lot. It can capture a snapshot of overall functioning and well-being, provide insight into a senior’s mobility and independence, and give foresight into fall risk, hospitalization, and future disability.
After the age of 40, muscle mass and strength in people will begin to deteriorate. As a consequence, the capability to engage in physical exercise becomes less and less. After the age of 50, the decline in strength and muscle mass rises to 15% per decade. Muscles will atrophy and grow weaker and smaller when not used, which creates a vicious cycle of age reducing muscles which then causes the person to do less activity, which reduces them further. In the elderly, the leading cause of this problem is sarcopenia, which is the involuntary loss of muscle mass and bone density due to age.
People tend to sleep more lightly as they get older. Midnight awakenings due to aches or bathroom needs are common occurrences for the elderly, as well as taking a nap during the day to make up for lost sleep at night.
Grief is normal and everyone including seniors can experience it. One can work through this emotion. Read more here about coping with grief as a senior.
From stretching to low-impact cardio, this article provides a list of easy and effective exercises specifically designed for seniors to combat fatigue and low energy levels.
Sepsis is a serious and life-threatening health condition that can and does affect all age groups. Infants, people with chronic health conditions, and those who have damaged immune systems are all more likely than those without to acquire sepsis. However, adults over the age of 65, particularly those who have health problems, are more prone to sepsis than all other groups and demographics. Adults 65 years of age and older are 13 times more likely than adults younger than 65 to be hospitalized with sepsis, and 63% of older adults admitted to the ICU present with sepsis upon entry. Just as with strokes and heart attacks, sepsis is a critical medical emergency that requires swift diagnosis and treatment to save the health and life of the patient.
Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and others can significantly affect the quality of life of the person suffering from them. Even though many chronic disorders do not have a cure, there are usually several treatments or strategies that are available to help manage and alleviate symptoms. Home care is a type of health care that offers assistance and support to people while they are at ease in their own home.
It is necessary for seniors to practice proper diet and eating habits, to maintain both their mental and physical health. Eating well can restore your health, lift your mood, and raise your spirits. Keeping a healthy diet, making sure to engage in regular exercise as part of your routine, and engaging in outdoor activities in an atmosphere with plenty of sunlight and oxygen are great ways to improve your general health and overall well-being.
There’s no shortage of ads for expensive face creams and lotions that purport to reduce the appearance of age, billing themselves as “fountains of youth”, or claiming that their effects are so powerful they’re putting plastic surgeons out of business.
Being mentally healthy means being in a state of emotional, psychological, and physical health. All three areas have an impact on our capacity for rational thought, positive mood, and effective behaviors. Several widespread risk factors affect mental health, and they can appear at any age or any moment. The majority of older persons have good mental health, but many are at risk of developing illnesses because of physical, social, neurological, or other environmental variables that are harmful to good mental health.
Older adults may have a long-term primary care provider with whom they have developed a trusting relationship over the years they’ve been seeing them. But as we age, we may find ourselves needing a new doctor. They may have retired from practice, your needs as a patient may have changed, you may have different insurance that no longer covers their practice, or your conditions may require the care of a specialist. No matter the reason, odds are good that at some point in your life you will find yourself shopping for a new healthcare provider for yourself or a loved one.
Memory issues are one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. People who have Alzheimer’s can gradually lose their capacity to have a conversation and react to their surroundings.
As we age, we tend to find our memories become less reliable. We may forget important details, or trivial details like where we placed something. This is a normal part of aging, but there are still ways to help prevent memory loss.
Staying active is important for everyone, but it’s particularly important for seniors. Maintaining your physical health is a key aspect to maintaining independence and quality of life. Strong muscles, good balance, and stamina will help you do everyday tasks like shopping, housekeeping, gardening, enjoying time with your family, and help you to bounce back from injuries and illnesses.
The crime of elder abuse is sadly far too common. Many elders experience abuse at the hands of others, whether it's physical, financial, emotional, or sexual. Another form of abuse is neglect, which is when a person in charge of the wellbeing of a senior fails to provide for their health and safety. But there are many seniors who are in charge of their own wellbeing, and fail to meet their own needs.
Heart attacks occur when there isn’t enough blood flow getting to the heart, preventing it from getting the oxygen it needs to function. This naturally is a dangerous condition, one that can result in lasting tissue damage, and in severe cases, even can cause death in the individual suffering one.