As people become old, their body gets weak. It turns hard for their immune system to fight diseases and viruses. As a result of this, they become more vulnerable to short and long term illnesses. Stats suggest that 80% of older adults have at least one chronic health condition, while 68% have two or more. However, this doesn’t mean that senior people can’t improve their quality of life. Indeed, they can enhance their health and reduce the risk of being infected with other chronic conditions. To help them with that, we have enlisted some of the most common chronic diseases that affect older adults and the tips to prevent them. Here you go!
- Alzheimer’s or Dementia
Contrary to popular belief, Alzheimer’s or dementia is not part of ageing and is caused by alterations in the brain over time. The conditions cause memory loss and create difficulty in completing everyday tasks by interfering with your ability to think and solve problems.
Prevention: Alzheimer’s is mainly caused by factors out of our control like family history, genetics, and age. However, according to studies, exercising, sleeping, and consuming a healthy diet can prevent or slow down its onset.
- Chronic Kidney Disease
Chronic Kidney Disease is a condition that prevents your kidneys from filtering blood. It basically means that your kidneys are damaged, which increases the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, high BP, and kidney failure.
Prevention: Since people who have diabetes or high blood pressure are at an increased risk of developing this condition, taking measures to prevent these health issues should be your first step to preventing CKD.
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
COPD is a group of diseases that infect your lungs. It includes two main conditions emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The sickness makes it hard to breathe and has symptoms like shortness of breath, cough, and chest tightness.
Prevention: COPD begins its progression in the later stage of life and develops slowly over the years. Since it is likely to affect people who smoke regularly, you should stay away from cigarettes, pipe, or tobacco smoke and follow respiratory care measures. Also, people are recommended to avoid dust and chemical fumes as they irritate the lungs and deteriorate your condition.
- Coronary Heart Disease
Caused because of the build-up of plaque that narrows the arteries going to the heart, coronary heart disease affects 29% of the older population. In this condition, the amount of oxygenated blood that should reach the heart decreases and causes complications like angina, blood clots, or heart attack.
Prevention: Although there are no hard and fast rules to prevent this condition, people are recommended to check their salt and sugar intake, do regular cardio exercises, and abstain from smoking to avoid this condition.
- Arthritis
More commonly observed in women, arthritis can be defined as swelling or tenderness of one or more joints. It happens because of the breakdown of cartilage over time and leads to swelling, pain, and reduced range of motion, and stiffness.
Prevention: For a healthy lifestyle, it is recommended to have the bodyweight in accordance with your height. Furthermore, you should exercise for at least 30 minutes five times per week to decrease pain if you have arthritis.
- High Cholesterol
When you accumulate more than the recommended amount of cholesterol in your blood, you develop this condition. It occurs because bad fats clog your arteries and limit blood flow. High cholesterol is serious as it increases the risk of developing heart disease.
Prevention: To manage your cholesterol levels, you need to abstain from smoking, manage weight, and limit consumption of saturated and trans fats.
- Hypertension
Hypertension is a prevalent disease that affects more than 50% of the older population. It develops if you have narrow arteries and your heart pumps a lot of blood. Because of this, the flow gets restricted, and the risk of developing health conditions like stroke and heart attack increases.
Prevention: Older people are advised to exercise regularly, manage stress levels, and maintain a healthy weight to stay safe against hypertension. You can include aerobic activities, muscle strengthening exercises, stretching in your workout regime.
- Heart Failure
When your heart becomes incapable of supplying an adequate amount of blood and oxygen to all the organs in your body, the condition is called heart failure. During this, your heart becomes enlarged, pumps faster, and develops more muscle mass, causing you to feel more tired, nauseous, and dizzy.
Prevention: You should consume a healthy diet and reduce the risk of developing high BP and coronary heart disease to lessen the risk of heart failure.
Managing your well-being should be your priority for living a happy life. It is even more crucial for older people to pay attention to their health conditions as they are more vulnerable to chronic diseases. So, to stay safe and healthy, know more about the chronic health conditions that affect older adults and follow the above-mentioned prevention tips!
