With increasing life expectancy, maintaining long-term health, functionality and well-being during ageing has become an essential goal. Remaining in good health as an older adult requires much more than what medication and treatment alone have to offer.
No matter your age, it is important to take care of your body and prevent illnesses. If you are 65 or older, something as simple as the flu or a common cold can progress and lead to complications.
This includes secondary infections like pneumonia, bronchitis, an ear infection, or a sinus infection. If you have a chronic condition such as asthma or diabetes, a respiratory illness can make these worse. Because of this, it is important to make healthy choices to strengthen your immune system and reduce the likelihood of illness.
In the last census baby boomers, those 65+ accounted for 13% of the population. This age group grew at a faster rate than the population under age 45, and it is clear that the US is an ageing population. Happily ageing is different now than what it used to be for our parents and grandparents.
Today, there are more people living longer than at any other time in history. In fact, boomers will number 78 million by 2030. “This generation, associated with social change including the civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s, has another important cause” staying healthy,” says soon-to-be 65-year-old Arthur Hayward, MD, No wonder that human beings – 50, 60, 70, 80 – are defying age-related illnesses, staying stronger, and living longer. A geriatrician and clinical lead physician for Kaiser Permanente: says, “We need to become activists in promoting healthful behaviours and try our best to remain active and healthy the rest of our lives.”
The term ‘Health’ is an abstract concept which is hard to grasp. A fundamental question arises, “Can an individual who does not suffer from any disease be called healthy?”
In 1948, The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Health consists of physical, mental, social, vocational, moral, emotional and spiritual dimensions. Obviously, health is a dynamic and multi-dimensional state and the achievement of optimum health, especially among the elderly, is only possible through a holistic approach which caters to each of these dimensions.
How do we go about doing it? Dr. Hayward recommends ten easy health tips for seniors to help them live longer healthy and even thrive. These are: quitting smoking, being active, doing each day something one enjoys to maintain strength, balance and flexibility, eating well nutritious foods in the right amounts, maintaining a healthy weight.
Extra weight, preventing falls, staying uptodate on immunizations and other health screenings, preventing skin cancer, getting regular dental, eye and ear checkups, managing stress through fun and positive thinking and fanning the flame.
A study in the United States says more than 51% of elderly people fall due to climbing stairs. Every year there are 20,000 deaths in the US due to climbing stairs. Experts advise that after 65 years of age do NOT do these 10 actions:
Climbing up the stairs/ ladder; turn too fast / turn around; bend over your feet; putting on pants standing; Sit ups; turning left and right; Step backward; bend to lift heavy items; suddenly standing from the bed; straining too hard. Some of us tend to show bravado by trying to do things as though they are young and end up either breaking a bone or dislocating one, which they later find difficult to join in view of their age. It is always useful to have Anti-tetanus injection done on one’s own to keep safe from infections from abrasions and minor injuries that have the potential of developing into major problems.
There are four pieces of simple knowledge every Senior Citizen and every care giver would do well to remember about food choking, wrong pillow, leg cramps and tingling feet, which the ageing usually suffer and which have simple solutions. If choking on food, you only need to “raise your hand”. By raising your hands above your head, the food stuck in your throat will go down by itself.
Wrong pillows can literally cause pain in the neck. You only need to lift your feet, then pull your toes and massage in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. When feeling cramps in your left leg, raise your right hand high and when cramping is in your right leg, raise your left hand high, it will immediately feel better.
When the left foot is tingling, swing your right palm with all your strength and when the right foot is tingling, swing your left palm with all your strength, the sensation will go almost instantaneously. While going to bed or rising from it, please turn sideways first and then lie or rise, as the case may be, to avoid pressure on your back.
To have a long life, the 10 years from age 70 to 79 years, are crucial. Israeli scholars have found that there are around two health problems per month for people between the ages of 70 and 79. Surprisingly, the health status of the elderly aged 80-89 is as stable as the 60-69 age group. 70-79 years is a dangerous period.
During this period, various organs decline rapidly. It is a frequent period of various geriatric diseases, and it is often prone to hyperlipemia, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and diabetes. After entering the age of 80, these diseases will decline, and the mental and physical health may return to the level of 60-69 years olds.
When the elderly are between 70 to 79 years of age, they are advised to follow the health tips given below every day. Dr. Wada of Japan advocates calling people over 70 years old as “fortunate people” rather than “elderly people”.
According to Dr Wada, Seniors over the age of 70 do not need regular physical examinations because the “standard of health” varies from person to person. He also said: “Don’t believe what doctors say.” This is because doctors are in contact with “patients”, so they do not understand what health is.
At the same time, he also opposes the long-term use of multiple drugs by the elderly, and advocates “only take necessary drugs when necessary.” In other words, “taking medicine to prevent something” makes little sense. According to this point of view, the elderly do not need to take sleeping pills frequently.
Loss of sleep time as you age is a natural phenomenon, and no one dies from insomnia. 24 hours a day, sleep whenever you want, wake up whenever you want, this is the privilege of the elderly.
In addition, the cholesterol level that the elderly are generally worried about, even if it is high to a certain extent, there is no need to worry. Because cholesterol is the raw material for the body to generate immune cells.
The more immune cells, the lower the risk of cancer in older people. In addition, part of the male hormone is also composed of cholesterol. If the cholesterol level is too low, men’s physical and mental health will be unsustainable.
Likewise, high blood pressure doesn’t matter at all. More than 50 years ago, human malnutrition was widespread. So, when blood pressure reaches around 150, the blood vessels burst. But very few people are malnourished these days, so even blood pressure over 200 won’t cause a blood vessel to burst.
Dr. Wada summed up the secret of 70-year-olds becoming “fortunate people” into the sentences that follow: 1. Keep walking; 2. Take a deep breath when you feel irritable; 3. Exercise so that the body does not feel stiff; 4. Drink more water when the air conditioner is on in summer; 5. The more you chew, the more energetic your body and brain will be; 6. Memory declines not because of age, but because of long-term non-use of the brain; 7. No need to take a lot of medicine; 8. No need to deliberately lower blood pressure and blood sugar levels; 9. Only do what you love, not what you hate; 10. No matter what, don’t stay at home all the time
16. Eat whatever you want, the fat body is just right; 11. Do everything meticulously; 12. Don’t deal with people you hate; 13. Rather than fighting the disease to the end, it is better to live with it; 14. “The car must have a way to the front of the mountain” is the magic spell to make the old man happy; 15. You can’t fall asleep and don’t force it; 16. Doing happy things is best for boosting brain activity; 17. Find a “family doctor” early; 18. Don’t be overly patient or force yourself, there is nothing wrong with being a “bad old man”; 19. Stop learning and you will grow old; 20. Don’t be greedy for vanity, it’s good to have everything you have now; 21. Innocence is the privilege of the elderly; 22. The more troublesome things are, the more interesting they are; 23. Do what is good for others; 24. Live leisurely today; 25. Desire is the source of longevity; 26. Live as an optimist; 27. Cheerful people will be popular. 28. The rules of life are in your own hands; 29. Accept everything calmly.
*Bhushan Lal Razdan, formerly of the Indian Revenue Service, retired as Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Chandigarh.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.