How does cardiovascular disease affect the elderly?

Adults with the age of 65 and more are likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, heart attack, a stroke, or to develop coronary heart disease (commonly called heart disease) and heart failure than younger people. This disease is the problem with the heart, blood vessels or both. Aging cause changes in the blood vessels and heart, which may increase a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Usually a major cause of heart disease is the build-up of fatty deposits in the walls of arteries over many years. However there are the things you can do to reverse or avoid your risk to delay or lower.

Arteriosclerosis is the most commonly seen change in elderly, which increases the stiffness of the large arteries. In the process of aging another common causes are hypertension or high blood pressure. Other risk factors and High blood pressure including advancing age increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis. But, as it is not a normal part of aging, there are several risk factors that can be modified. Fatty deposits like plaque build-up inside the walls of arteries which narrows and hardens your arteries where it gets difficult for the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the organs and other parts of the body. Blood nutrients and oxygen are supplied to the heart muscle, through the coronary arteries.

When plaque builds up in the coronary arteries, heart disease develops, which reduces the blood flow to the heart muscle. Gradually heart muscle becomes weakened or damaged, which results in heart failure. Heart damage can be caused by diabetes, long-standing hypertension, heart attacks and chronic heavy alcohol use. Some signs of heart disease are: Shortness of breath when active, at rest, or while lying flat, Dizziness, Headaches, Nausea/vomiting, Confusion, Reduced ability to exercise or be physically active, Cold sweats, Swelling in the ankles, feet, legs, stomach, and/or neck, Chest pain during physical activity that gets better when you rest, Pain, numbness, and/or tingling in the shoulders, arms, neck, jaw, or back, Problems doing your normal activities, Tiredness or fatigue, Light headedness. Prevention of cardiovascular disease is follow a heart-healthy diet, Keep your diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or high cholesterol under control, Keep a healthy weight and If you smoke, quit.

Can Osteoporosis be cured?

 

Osteoporosis is a medical condition, in which the bone tends to become fragile and brittle, due to the loss of tissue, which results in the changes in hormones and deficiency of vitamin D and calcium. The main cause of Osteoporosis is the lack of certain hormones, particularly androgen in men and estrogen in women. Women, who are older than 60 years of age, are most frequently diagnosed with this disease. Woman’s risk of Osteoporosis is due to Menopause, which reduces the estrogen levels. Osteoporosis causes thinning bones, which results in painful fractures. Risk factors for Osteoporosis are smoking, aging, being female, menopause, low body weight, some medications, and low sex hormones.

Osteoporosis can be treated and prevented with exercise, vitamin D, calcium, osteoporosis medications. The bones like wrist, spine and hip are most likely to break, although all bones are affected by this disease. Some warning signs to recognize that, you may have Osteoporosis are- a bone, that breaks easily unexpected, a stooped posture, loss of height over time, back pain which is caused due to fractured or collapsed vertebra in your back. The bones of human body are usually densest, in the age of 30. However Osteopenia is the first stage of osteoporosis, is when bones are weaker than normal but not so far that they can break easily.

Foods to avoid when you have osteoporosis are alcohol, caffeine, wheat bran, soda, red meat, salt, liver and fish liver oil. Foods to eat when you have osteoporosis are nuts like brazil nuts and almonds, types of fish like sardines with bones and canned salmon, dairy products like calcium fortified cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese, and milk, green leafy vegetables like mustard greens, dried figs, broccoli, turnip greens, kale and collard greens. Some exercises to control osteoporosis are gardening, low-impact aerobics, stair climbing, dancing, elliptical training machines, and walking. Maintaining good health with walking, healthy diet reduces the danger of osteoporosis.

Does Acupuncture actually work ?

 

Acupuncture means that, it is a complementary medicine, where fine needles are to be inserted into the skin at specific points, along with the lines of meridians, which is considered to be energy, used for treating various mental and physical conditions. Acupuncture is actually used to relieve pain, such as headaches, lower back pain, neck problems, managing chronic pain due to Osteoporosis, etc. Researchers and scientists say by their evidence that, this acupuncture helps to treat the pain. It is a safe procedure, with minor problems like, drowsiness, headache after treatment, needles left in patients by mistake, etc.

By the evidence, Acupuncture is said to be a safe procedure only when it is done by the trained practitioners, using single –use needles, which also said to be clean needle technique. With the research of this pain relieving technique, it has a low rate of minor adverse effects. In the method of sterile techniques, infections and accidents do occur, because of practitioner. Pneumothorax and some infections are reported most frequently as adverse effects. Since these effects are reported, in order to reduce the risk of these effects, it is recommended that the acupuncturist must be trained sufficiently.

Acupuncture points are used to stimulate the central nervous system. This process releases the chemicals into the brain, muscles and spinal cord. These chemicals are used to promote the emotional and physical well-being and stimulate the body’s natural healing ability. Acupuncture is mainly used to relieve the pain and discomfort, due to some conditions and diseases like:

• Osteoporosis
• Neck pain
• Lower back pain
  
• Headaches which include tensions and migraine
• Dental pain

 

 

         

What is the role of Nutrition in Aging?

Good Nutrition plays a very important role, no matter what your age is. It can help you to control your weight and also gives you energy which helps to prolong life and delay aging. Healthy nutrition and balanced diet are also used to prevent diseases like cancer, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, Heart diseases, etc. Aging also leads to reduction in several nutrients and also deficiencies like iron, calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, etc. It may also reduce the ability to find some sensations like feeling thirsty and hungry.

Under eating or over eating are the poor habits, which cause poor nutrition. Under eating means not consuming enough of the healthy foods which we need to take every day. Over eating means having too many types of food items and drinks, which are high in fat and low in fiber. Consuming more sugar and salt also causes poor nutrition. Nutritional theory of aging says that, aging also causes loss of function in organs and tissues and is explained and said by different theories such as endocrine theories, nutritional intervention in the name of caloric or dietary restriction (CR/DR), free radical or reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Nutrition is varied with age and gender. Generally speaking, men need more calories and energy in a day, compared to women throughout the life. The amount of energy we need daily depends on height, age and how active we are. But, as you get loss in the muscle mass, energy levels tend to reduce with the age. This is not meant do get fewer nutrients, like fiber, vitamins, minerals, proteins, water, fat, carbohydrates, etc. It will remain roughly the same. A good example for this explanation is calcium. Usually, calcium is used for the strong bones and teeth. Some sources of calcium are yoghurt, leafy green vegetables like spinach, cheese, sesame seeds, low fat milk, kale, tinned salmon, etc.