10 Health Challenges of Aging

Aging can appear off-putting greying hair, wrinkles, forgetting where you parked the car. All jokes apart, getting older can result in specific health problems. It is vital to understand the challenges faced by people as they age and understand that there are preventive measures which can place yourself (or a loved one) on a direction to healthy aging

1. Chronic health conditions

Chronic diseases could have a profound effect on the health and quality of life of an elder. Heart disorder, stroke, cancer, and diabetes are some of the most common chronic health situations inflicting two-thirds of deaths every year. Obesity is a growing problem amongst older adults and tasty in these lifestyle behaviours can assist lessen obesity and related chronic conditions.

2. Cognitive health

Cognitive health is focused on a person’s potential to think, examine and keep in mind. The most common cognitive health problem facing the elderly is dementia, the loss of those cognitive capabilities. The most common type of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease

3. Mental fitness

A common mental disease among seniors is depression, happening in seven percent of the aged population. Unluckily, this mental disorder is often underdiagnosed and undertreated.

4. Physical injury

A senior dies from falling every 29 minutes, making it the main purpose of injury among the elderly. Due to the fact aging causes bones to shrink and muscle to lose strength and flexibility, seniors are greater vulnerable to losing their stability, bruising and fracturing a bone. Diseases that contribute to frailty are osteoporosis and osteoarthritis

5. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases

Seniors are not likely to use condoms, which, whilst combined with a weakened immune system, make the elderly more liable to contracting HIV. Late diagnosis of HIV is common among older adults because signs and symptoms of HIV are very much like those of regular aging, making it hard to treat and prevent damage to the immune system.

6. Malnutrition

Malnutrition in older adults over the age of 65 is frequently underdiagnosed and may cause different elderly fitness troubles, which includes a weakened immune system and muscle weakness. The causes of malnutrition can stem from different health issues (seniors suffering from dementia may additionally forget to consume the food), depression, alcoholism, dietary restrictions, decreased social contact and limited income.

7. Sensory impairments

Sensory impairments, which include vision and hearing, are extremely common for older adults. Luckily, visual impairment and hearing impairment are easily treatable by way of aids which include glasses or hearing aids.

8. Oral health

Oral health is one of the most important issues for the aged. Adults over the age of 65 do not have their natural teeth. Issues including cavities and enamel decay can cause problem retaining a healthy diet, low self-esteem, and other health conditions. Oral health problems related to older adults are dry mouth, gum sickness and mouth cancer.

9. Substance abuse

Substance abuse, generally alcohol or drug-related, is more common among seniors than realized.

10. Bladder control and constipation

Incontinence and constipation are both common with aging, and might impact older adults quality of life. In addition to age-associated changes, these can be a side effect of previous problems noted above, such as not eating a properly-balanced diet and suffering from chronic health conditions

Visit Aging Meet 2019 to learn and share more about preventative measures for common elderly health issues.

Can We Reverse Memory Loss From Aging?!

New therapeutic molecules developed show promise in reversing the memory loss linked to depression and aging.

These molecules not only rapidly improve symptoms, but remarkably, also appear to renew the underlying brain impairments causing memory loss in preclinical models.

Currently, there are no medicines to treat cognitive symptoms such as memory loss

What's unique and promising about these findings, in the face of many failures in drug development for mental illness, is that the compounds are highly targeted to activate the impaired brain receptors that are causing memory loss

Researchers identified the specific impairments to brain cell receptors in the GABA neurotransmitter system. Then they showed that these impairments likely caused mood and memory symptoms in depression and in aging.

The new small molecules were invented to bind to and activate this receptor target. The idea was that they would exert a therapeutic effect by "fixing" the impairment, resulting in an improvement in symptoms. The molecules are chemical tweaks of benzodiazepines, a class of anti-anxiety and sedative medications that also activate the GABA system, but are not highly targeted.

A single dose of these new molecules was administered in preclinical models of stress-induced memory loss. Thirty minutes later, memory performance returned to normal levels, an experiment that was reproduced more than 15 times. In another experiment involving preclinical models of aging, memory declines were rapidly reversed and performance increased to 80 per cent after administration, essentially reaching levels seen in youth or earlier stages of adulthood. This improvement lasted over two months with daily treatment.

"The aged cells regrew to appear the same as young brain cells, showing that our novel molecules can modify the brain in addition to improving symptoms". Researchers expect to start testing the molecules in clinical research in two years.

If successful, the potential applications are broad. Not only is there a lack of treatment for cognitive deficits in mental illness, but the brain improvements suggest the molecules could help to prevent the memory loss at the beginning of Alzheimer's disease, potentially delaying its onset.

Is It Alzheimer’s or Normal Aging?

As you become older, chances are you’ll once in a while forget a word, where you left your vehicle keys or the name of a neighbour you bumped into the market.

These small memory lapses occur. They’re a normal part of getting older -- similar to creaky knees, wrinkled pores and skin, or blurry vision.

It could assist to:

•       Write yourself notes.

•       Place your keys in the same location every day.

•       Play word games or do crossword puzzles.

Due to the fact loss of memory is likewise a symptom of Alzheimer’s disease; you may fear that these lapses are a sign of something serious. Alzheimer’s, which affects some five million individuals, most of them over sixty-five, is irreversible.

Other reasons for Memory Loss:

In maximum cases, there’s no notable cause for fear. Simply due to the fact you lose your keys or forget about someone’s name doesn’t mean you have got Alzheimer’s. You can have memory loss because of every day growing old procedure.

Simple Steps to Prevent Dementia!!

What is Dementia?

Dementia is a general term for loss of memory and other mental abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life

At present, we are unable to cure or prevent dementia. The main cause of dementia is aging. We can’t stop or avoid aging. Researchers found that some genes might increase the risk of developing dementia and we also cannot modify our genes. Because of this, we are unable to cure/prevent dementia.

Can we reduce the risk of getting dementia?

Yes, there are plenty of things we can do to reduce the risk of getting dementia or delaying its onset.

Exercise

Several studies say that physical activity is a protective factor against dementia and also cognitive decline. Researchers found that exercise improves memory function in older people. They recommend elder people to do at least to 20–30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day

Cognitive and social activities

Participating in social activities might reduce the risk of dementia. People who are engaged in mentally challenging activities such as musical instrument, crossword, reading, mind related games, etc., have a low risk of getting Dementia.

Regular health check-ups

Several disorders also associated with the risk of dementia. If Diabetes, High BP, cholesterol and depression are treated would lower the chance of getting dementia.

Healthy diet

A proper and Healthy diet will reduce the risk of getting dementia and also other aging disorders.

Some research shows that a Mediterranean diet will reduce stroke, slower the cognitive decline and lower the chance of Dementia.