Healthy lifestyle of an elderly person. The health of the elderly: how to improve. Healthy aging starts with you

03.03.2020

With the onset of autumn, the weather less and less pleases us with sunny, warm days. During this period, the risk of developing colds and autumn depression increases. You can avoid this if you follow a few simple recommendations:

Dress for the weather. It is necessary to follow the weather forecast and choose things that correspond to the autumn season;
Choose the right footwear. To avoid foot problems, as well as falls and injuries, when choosing shoes, give preference to comfortable orthopedic options with a small heel;
Take vitamin complexes. On the recommendation of a doctor, take vitamins, and do it regularly, without skipping;
Keep physical activity. Try to be more in the fresh air, do physical exercises, develop fine motor skills;
Follow your doctor's recommendations. Do not ignore even a slight deterioration in health, and even more so self-medicate. If you have any doubts about your health, you should seek the advice of a doctor;
Follow the daily routine. This item is especially important for the elderly! Adhering to the daily routine, you can get rid of insomnia, and a healthy long sleep will give you a feeling of calm and stability;
Try to communicate more with friends and family. Find common interests and hobbies, such as Nordic walking or swimming, and spend time with health benefits;
Eat right. The autumn menu must contain seasonal vegetables and fruits, honey, berries, herbal infusions. Saturating your diet with vitamins and useful trace elements, you will strengthen your health and prepare for the winter. In the boarding house for the elderly "Visiting like at home", the balance of the menu is monitored not only by cooks, but also by dietitians. In cooking, organic products grown in our own garden or in a greenhouse are used. Eggs, meat of chickens, turkeys, rabbits comes from our own mini-farm;
Rehabilitation after a serious illness or injury should take place under the supervision of qualified professionals. In the boarding house "Away like at home" in the Moscow region, all conditions have been created for high-quality and quick recovery after suffering ailments, there are all kinds of devices and simulators. If necessary, the rehabilitation doctor will develop an individual wellness program.
Communicate more and enjoy life. Make new acquaintances and feel the joy of communication! Board games, drawing, collective viewing of TV programs, needlework, concerts and other events - our boarding house has all the conditions for an interesting leisure time!

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Healthy lifestyle applies not only to the young, but also to the elderly. And no matter how we feel that old man can only sit quietly on a bench next to the house and remember the past, in reality this is not so. Old age is a time of reflection on one's life, the ability to see true values, and not just passive rest. And the state of health of an elderly person plays, perhaps, the main role, both in his physical and mental state.

Physiological aging is expressed in a change in appearance, which occurs from the age of 50-60. Although, from a medical point of view, the aging of the body begins with the cessation of its development, with a slowdown in biological processes, that is, at the age of 35. After 35, tissues and cells age, the functions of individual organs and systems change. The aging period is characterized by natural destructive processes that begin to prevail over reconstructive ones. Such changes affect not only the biological side, but also affect the social sphere of a person and his psyche. So almost everyone old man complains of impaired memory, deterioration of the brain, the ability to navigate in space, slow reactions. Against this background, psychological traits are sharpened, for example, caution turns into suspiciousness, practicality is replaced by stinginess, prudence - moralizing. A sharp narrowing of the social environment leads to loneliness, and an elderly person begins to feel unnecessary, unclaimed. You can read more about the psychological characteristics of older people.

The starting point of the aging process and its quality largely depends on the social, living and climatic conditions, nutritional habits, the presence of diseases, heredity, psychological characteristics of a particular person. At the same time, one must understand that people die not from old age as such, but from diseases. And to protect your body from diseases, or at least improve the quality of life in the presence of chronic or incurable diseases, it is quite within the power of every elderly person, of course, not only on their own, but with the participation of doctors. That's why healthy lifestyle is the key to late old age, good mental condition, normal intellectual and physical activity.

The basics of a healthy lifestyle are extremely simple: a rational, thoughtful and convenient daily routine, giving up all bad habits, a moderate and balanced diet, exactly the same moderate and systematic physical activity, good sleep and positive emotions. And all of the above is well founded. Take, for example, our favorite bad habits: overeating, drinking, smoking. After all, it is they who seriously shorten life, as they provoke the risk of the appearance of serious diseases. Moderate fractional nutrition can significantly extend our life. Remember what long-livers look like, because they are all skinny. Their food is usually moderate, if not ascetic. Healthy lifestyle, of course, does not suggest living from hand to mouth, but reducing the total amount of food consumed and balancing its quality by reducing carbohydrates and animal fats, and increasing the consumption of greens, vegetables, fish and seafood is quite possible. With such nutrition, the human body is not overloaded and expends its strength not on digesting food, but on protecting the body from diseases. At all old man should eat according to their age. For example, after 50 it is important to eat foods containing calcium: cheese (preferably low fat), cottage cheese, sesame.

Moderate physical activity is also included in the concept healthy lifestyle. The fact is that in the process of movement there is an improvement in blood circulation, a decrease in bone loss and even an increase in bone density, which significantly reduces the risk of fractures. The choice of physical activity will depend on the state of health of the elderly person and the prescriptions of the attending physician. However, there are activities that will be useful for everyone: for example, walking or its newfangled variation, the so-called "Nordic walking", which uses special ski-like poles. Walking is also good because it allows you to improve the functioning of all human systems and organs through effective aerobic training.

With age, the problem of full sleep becomes especially relevant. Often aged people suffer from insomnia, shallow or interrupted sleep, early awakenings, or simply sleep poorly. For a good night's rest, it is advisable not to overeat at night, not to drink coffee, tea, chocolate less than 3 hours before bedtime; With such an invigorating temperature, a person will retain a state of youth much longer.

Healthy lifestyle involves an active intellectual load for each of us, however old man should pay more attention to this issue. The fact is that active intellectual activity can slow down the natural processes of memory deterioration and mental abilities in general. This happens as a result of the activation of metabolism and the circulatory system. (On the pages of the site you can find specific memory training exercises). And if you want to get extra years full of joy, then you can do any creative activity that you will, as they say, to your liking: growing flowers, learning a new type of needlework, studying a computer or newfangled gadgets. The scope of your creative potentials is not as important as the process of creating something new, the process of realizing your internal resources.

As you can see healthy lifestyle- it's not as boring as it might seem at first. On the contrary, thanks to him, the life of an elderly person can become more joyful, vigorous and happy. Moreover, by itself healthy lifestyle in no way has any age restrictions and is able to bring real benefits to every person.

Understanding an active lifestyle in our modern time is a little narrowed down. Many only say that they walked, or did exercises in front of the TV on a rug with an open window and, it is not necessary to go out into the fresh air today. Or cooked dinner and did a lot of household chores and walked a lot. It's a pity they don't count how long they spent on the couch. Would be horrified! Is this called an active lifestyle? This is called an excuse for an active lifestyle.

Doing favorite things

At the age of 58, I consider myself leading an active lifestyle. And, I understand it in such a way that when I have time or mood, I can sew a thing for myself or knit it. Let it take more than one week, in view of the fact that I am still working. But these are the things from which I get great pleasure and satisfaction. This is one of my favorite activities. I have more than one such occupation and I will not describe them so that you do not get bored reading. I do them when and for what mood and desire. I don’t do it to finish one thing and start another, otherwise it will be violence against myself, not pleasure.

And, after this pleasure from my favorite pastime, my brain, yes, that brain, all of me is experiencing a flow of new energy. She probably recovered to new activities. Right now, for example, I am doing another one of my favorite things, writing an article for you. And I imagine how many of you will read and then write messages to me on social networks. And I already feel the warmth of your letters and rejoice in them in advance. This is the joy of life! How much of it is in the little things.

Movement is life!

Walking for me is another of my favorite activities and even turned into a principle of life. It's okay and fun! And for long distances too. I avoid public transport at every opportunity. I do gymnastics every day or march in a room with an open window for 25 minutes so that cholesterol does not deposit on my blood vessels. So that the area of the shoulder blades and shoulder joints are in motion and congestion in the muscles and joints does not begin. I also choose this when I want one or the other.

It's important to do what you want! But moving in old age is necessary and intensive enough every day! We must understand that human joints are restored during a fairly intense movement. In this state, metabolic processes are accelerated, and more nutrition is supplied to our joints. And there is food and the recovery process will be.

You need to walk at an accelerated pace for at least 25 minutes. Such walks during the week will strengthen the heart muscle, and even contribute to weight loss. But overdo it in the intensity and high pace of classes or walking! Duration is much healthier and safer for people who are over 50 years old.
Be sure to do stretching exercises at least once a week.
Swimming in the pool will also bring great benefits.

Add to your diet "Glucosamine and chondroitin" - the building material of articular cartilage. Older people produce little growth hormone - this must be taken into account. Drink a glass of "Instant Creatine - Siberian Super Natural Sport" before intensive walking on the street or gymnastics. The production of growth hormone will begin, namely, it is involved in the restoration of cartilage tissue.

Pay more attention to the liver. She also takes active steps to restore the joints. Clean it and restore it with our products - "Synchrovital IV"; EPAM 4; Tea "Grass of Life"; "The Origins of Purity". Take Trimegavital "Siberian flax and Omega - 3" or "Northern Omega - 3" and your microtraumas in the cartilage tissue will heal more intensively. It is also the best remedy for cleaning and strengthening blood vessels.

Positive emotions

Sigmund Freud said: “Each time we wake up in the morning, we seem to be reborn.” So, let's be born every day happy people! It is important to go to bed with positive thoughts so that you can start the day the same way again. That's what I try to do. And, waking up, I definitely think that everything is fine, everyone is healthy and happy, what else do you need? If the sun shines outside the window, then a good mood is added. I always try to pay attention to my appearance so that when I look in the mirror, I get a charge of good mood. We must create the mood ourselves, living on the positive.

If thoughts are bad for a long time, then this will affect the mood, and eventually the psyche, and, undoubtedly, will lead to physical illness. The body loses its vitality and diseases appear. Tibetan doctors claim that protective emotions, such as anger, greed, fear, hostility, and many others, can be the source of any, even infectious diseases. I rarely or don't watch negative TV shows related to disasters, murders, violence, the end of the world, etc.

They cause strong emotions and negatively affect my health. Heart palpitations, anxiety, fear begin, and, finally, a feeling of anxiety arises, from which it is difficult to get rid of. Then I accept EPAM 1000 and EPAM 44, switch the TV to another channel. Strong emotions tire the body and introduce it into a stressful state - this has long been proven by science. And, after all, malignant tumors also arise, often after a shock.

My job is to communicate with people

And yet, I am a networker, the owner of the store - office of "Siberian Health" and am at the stage of early development. I work as a manager in my store. This is both a burden for my age and a joy at the same time. I communicate with good people a lot and also get great pleasure from this! I take the courses "Trimegavital DHA superconcentrate", "Synchrovital II" - they help the brain to work well. There are negative people too, but that's their problem and I don't dwell on their behavior.

I also try to eat right, I have been taking dietary supplements for many years and this is also one of my constant habits. Give the body what modern food cannot give now, since it is very depleted in its composition in relation to bioactive substances. We do not receive substances for vital activity - biologically active substances, necessary for the normal or proper functioning of our cells. Here is the active life of a man for 50 years. I never get bored! But I don't consider myself old.

12 tips for maintaining health in old age

A healthy lifestyle is one of the most important factors that help maintain mental and physical health in the elderly.

What you need to stay healthy

Physical activity - The first factor is physical activity, which is so lacking in modern society. To increase activity, specially selected exercises are used that can provide the desired payload to all muscle groups. This helps counteract the appearance of signs of the aging process. Exercises are selected individually, depending on the age and condition of the body;
Proper nutrition - Diverse, which allows you to get the necessary substances for the normal functioning of the body, and also not to overload it with harmful products, leading to the formation of excess weight;
Quit smoking - Many older people believe that they can no longer take care of their health if they have previously smoked, since the harm to the body has already been done. In fact, if at any age, then there will still be noticeable improvements in the state of the body;
Do not drink coffee and alcohol - Limit or completely eliminate the use of coffee and alcohol, as all this affects the cardiovascular system and is harmful at any age;
No stressful situations - You should also try to control your emotions, protect yourself from negative events, listening to bad news that does not have any personal relationship with a person, and so on;
Active brain activity - We recommend reading more and discussing information, learning something new. Even doing crossword puzzles helps keep your mind sharp;
Proper sleep - Rest and sound sleep should become a permanent item of the regime, since without these elements the body will go to exhaustion, and as a result, the degradation of health. After useful loads, it is recommended to have a good rest and get enough sleep every day;
Social and sexual activity - Regular implementation of one's desires, as well as emerging ideas, helps to maintain psychological and physical health;
Pouring and rubbing - Various kinds of hardening promotes health and resistance to emerging negative factors;
Communication - Maintaining good relationships with loved ones and relatives, being more surrounded by people with common interests; *There are weekends where older people can spend the weekend surrounded by people of the same age.
Sanitation - The principles of safety for the elderly are also required to be maintained. This includes living in a dry and warm room, walking in the fresh air and maintaining a good sanitary environment;
Hygiene - Follow all the rules of personal hygiene

Output

The main rule here is that a person has a personal motivation, so that he wants to stay healthy and make the necessary efforts for this. For most people, this means that they will have to change their daily lives and introduce certain regimens.

Why all of a sudden the elderly have attracted such close attention of health care professionals by a respected organization? The answer is simple. The population of the planet is steadily aging, and we must prepare in advance for such a turn of events. There are a lot of questions to be answered. How to ensure that people maintain active longevity, so that the elderly are not a burden on the family and society? Finally, how to treat them? The authors of the report did a great job - they studied hundreds of studies of doctors, sociologists, demographers, volunteer organizations helping the elderly from all over the world to find out.

The planet is getting older

Demographers predict that children born, for example, in Brazil or Myanmar in 2015, will live 20 years longer than their compatriots born some 50 years before them. And if in Iran people over 60 years old made up only 10% of the population in 2015, then in just 35 years they will be up to 33%.

Today, the proportion of people over 60 exceeds 30% of the population in Japan alone. However, according to demographic forecasts, by the middle of the 21st century, people over 60 years old will make up a third of the population not only in European countries, the USA and Canada, but also in Vietnam, China, South Korea, Chile, Thailand, and also in our country.

Medical advances have unprecedentedly affected the growth of life expectancy. In low- and middle-income countries, this was mainly due to improved obstetric care, reduction in infant mortality and mortality from infectious diseases, in rich countries - mainly due to a decrease in the death rate of older people. In addition, as the authors of the report note, the decline in the birth rate, which is observed in almost all countries of the world, has a noticeable effect on the change in the structure of the population.

Such a global change in the demographic situation cannot but affect the economies of countries. It will require significant changes in the work of health systems, social services, and preparations for this must begin today.

While transforming health systems will require action on several fronts, health care providers prioritize three of them:

reorientation of clinical practice towards maintaining individual viability;
restructuring health systems to provide comprehensive care for older people;
retraining of medical personnel to improve the quality of care provided in accordance with the requirements of new systems.

Don't be a burden

“Older people contribute to society in a wide variety of ways – whether in their family, in the local community or in society at large. However, such human and social resources, and the opportunities available to each of us as we age, depend to a large extent on one key characteristic - our health,” the report emphasizes.

To live long, to feel young in your declining years and to die healthy, not to be a burden to your loved ones is everyone's dream. However, for many it remains unattainable. Not all centenarians can boast of an excellent supply of health and vitality.

According to some long-term studies, the prevalence of severe disability in wealthy countries may have generally declined over the past decades, but this trend has not affected the prevalence of milder disability: it has not yet been reduced. In low- and middle-income countries, the situation is even worse.

The body becomes decrepit, the muscles weaken, the bones lose their density, the joints are degrading. Of course, the years take their toll. Irreversible changes occur not only at the physical level. In the elderly, the speed of information processing decreases, the ability to work associated with solving several problems at once is gradually lost. But, as it turns out, this does not always negatively affect labor productivity and even to a certain extent can be compensated by their experience. Research shows that where it is necessary to find a way out of difficult situations and then concentrate on other urgent tasks, older workers perform better than younger colleagues. In addition, it was noted that a team of employees of different ages can be a determining factor for increasing labor productivity, especially when solving creative problems. In a word, even in old age a person can bring a lot of benefits to society.

“If people live these extra years of life in good health, their ability to realize what they consider valuable will be practically unlimited,” the authors of the report say. “If these additional years are accompanied by a decline in physical and mental abilities, then the consequences for the elderly themselves and for society will be much more negative.”

However, experts conclude that ill health need not be the predominant and limiting factor in the elderly population.

The years take their toll

Older people are more susceptible to hypo- and hyperthermia, more often suffer from dehydration than young people. There is a high prevalence among them of chronic diseases and multimorbidity, that is, the presence of several chronic diseases interconnected by a single pathogenetic mechanism. At the same time, it is precisely the tasks of treating chronic diseases that public health services pay offensively little attention to.

Another problem is that with age, the activity of T-lymphocytes that form the immune response decreases. And this means that the older the person, the weaker the protective functions of his body. The worse it copes with new infections. By the way, the elderly and vaccines are much weaker due to a decrease in immune function. In addition, serum levels of inflammatory cytokines increase with age. This phenomenon is known as chronic sluggish inflammatory process in old age. It leads to a number of consequences - senile decrepitude, atherosclerosis and sarcopenia (loss of mass and strength of skeletal muscles).

How to slow down aging

“Most of the health problems in old age are the result of chronic diseases,” experts say. - Many of them can be prevented or delayed through a healthy lifestyle. Even at a very advanced age, physical activity and good nutrition can bring tangible benefits to health and well-being. Other health problems can be dealt with effectively, especially if they are detected early enough.”

To meet the needs of an aging population, it is necessary to make significant changes in the structure of health systems and procedures for the provision of medical care, and create a favorable environment for their life, the report says. After all, “even if people experience a decline in vitality, a supportive environment can encourage them to continue to move wherever they want and do what they need to do. Long-term care and support can provide them with a decent life full of opportunities for continued personal growth.” However, health care systems are still poorly adapted to the needs of the elderly.

Medicines for the elderly

The older a person is, the more dependent they become on drugs and health care. The absence of both can put him in a very difficult position and even have life-threatening consequences. However, for the elderly, the use of drugs is associated with higher risks and a higher prevalence of adverse reactions. And yet without drugs - nowhere. Often, people in their declining years suffer from several chronic diseases at once, and they have to take pills on an ongoing basis, drinking literally handfuls.

“Medicines for the elderly need to be safe and well-chosen, available and accessible,” the WHO report says. However, for most health systems, addressing these challenges is difficult to achieve.

In general, the aging body reacts completely differently to pharmaceuticals. This is due to deep changes in the viability and functions of the body, which are accompanied in many cases by comorbidity. And this is another big problem. After all, older people are usually excluded from clinical trials of drugs, and if their medical history indicates not one, but several chronic diseases, then even more such candidates are eliminated from the list of volunteers on whom drugs are tested. This means that the results of most clinical studies are very conditional (the WHO report says even more categorically - “impossible” to apply directly to older groups of people).

“In order to more accurately determine the response of older people to various drugs and their combinations, it is necessary to review the design of clinical trials,” WHO experts say. For example, this concerns the further study of the impact on people with multimorbidity of the most commonly prescribed drugs. After all, when treating a patient with more than one health problem, a combination of different types of medical interventions is used. At the same time, the report emphasizes that the results of studies should be considered taking into account not only disease markers, but also individual viability. Until new approaches to clinical trials that better meet the needs of older people are developed, experts suggest more thorough post-market drug testing to study their effects on older people, especially those who have multiple diseases at once.

Additional studies, according to WHO experts, also require drugs for the prevention and treatment of such frequent senile ailments as dementia and sarcopenia, since "convincing evidence has not yet been accumulated in relation to them, substantiating the need for drug treatment." Only after that they can be included in the relevant lists.

As for the lists of essential medicines for the elderly, experts believe that they should be revised taking into account the dynamics of changes in their health status. For example, these lists usually do not include nutritional supplements, vitamins and trace elements. But they, as practice shows, have a positive effect on the elderly, improving the functional state of their body.

With an eye on age

Another topic raised in the report is that with age, the likelihood of misuse of medicines also increases. Therefore, it is important to ensure the appropriate use of medicines by older people, including through the correct prescription of medicines. This task requires urgent attention.

Thus, it may be necessary to develop guidelines for physicians on the proper prescribing of medicines for elderly patients.

In addition, over the years, a person often becomes helpless in solving the simplest tasks. This often applies to the implementation of medical prescriptions regarding medication. And in this they need help.

For example, in Australia, a special pharmaceutical service, Home Medicines Review, has been organized to care for older people who are at increased risk of problems associated with taking medications. The service staff works closely with the general practitioner. They take elderly people under their patronage, advise them at home about the effective and safe use of medicines. Due to this optimization of the procedure for prescribing medications, the development of excessive side effects during drug therapy is prevented.

However, these drugs still need to be available. And they are not available to everyone. The authors of the report believe that efforts should be made to ensure that older people have free access to at least basic medicines. And they cite the positive experience of Brazil. There, for older people receiving treatment within the national health system, access to medicines has been expanded through the provision of five essential medicines free of charge. Older people get them through the health care service.

More attention to the older generation

The authors of the report note that in order to develop measures to slow down the decline in the viability of older people, it is necessary that translational studies of aging and life expectancy take into account social aspects to a greater extent.

For example, it is important to understand the reasons why many older people violate their doctor's prescription by not taking their medication. This can help improve the effectiveness of therapy.

Today, funding for research related to the elderly is relatively small. It is necessary to revise the budgets allocated for these purposes, experts state.

In addition, it is necessary to consider what kind of messages and strategies that encourage healthy lifestyles may be required for people in older age groups.

Finally, for health systems to remain sustainable, it is important to develop cost-effective health care strategies for the elderly in advance. For example, to determine which screening programs will bring the greatest impact, and which diseases should be given priority for prevention and treatment.

Of course, the analysis of the economic efficiency of medical care is necessarily carried out in all countries of the world - without this, nowhere. But, as a rule, they contain data on the prevention and treatment of patients of younger and middle age groups, which cannot be extrapolated to the elderly. They are characterized by very different levels of risk and a higher prevalence of adverse effects. According to the authors of the report, health policy makers and sociologists “need not only to focus more and more specifically on the study of trajectories of change in individual vitality and functional ability, but also to overcome discriminatory perceptions of older people and rethink policies and procedures to include older people in research design. ".