People tend to sleep more lightly as they get older. Midnight awakenings due to aches or bathroom needs are common occurrences for the elderly, as well as taking a nap during the day to make up for lost sleep at night.
Grief is normal and everyone including seniors can experience it. One can work through this emotion. Read more here about coping with grief as a senior.
From stretching to low-impact cardio, this article provides a list of easy and effective exercises specifically designed for seniors to combat fatigue and low energy levels.
Sepsis is a serious and life-threatening health condition that can and does affect all age groups. Infants, people with chronic health conditions, and those who have damaged immune systems are all more likely than those without to acquire sepsis. However, adults over the age of 65, particularly those who have health problems, are more prone to sepsis than all other groups and demographics. Adults 65 years of age and older are 13 times more likely than adults younger than 65 to be hospitalized with sepsis, and 63% of older adults admitted to the ICU present with sepsis upon entry. Just as with strokes and heart attacks, sepsis is a critical medical emergency that requires swift diagnosis and treatment to save the health and life of the patient.
Chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and others can significantly affect the quality of life of the person suffering from them. Even though many chronic disorders do not have a cure, there are usually several treatments or strategies that are available to help manage and alleviate symptoms. Home care is a type of health care that offers assistance and support to people while they are at ease in their own home.
It is necessary for seniors to practice proper diet and eating habits, to maintain both their mental and physical health. Eating well can restore your health, lift your mood, and raise your spirits. Keeping a healthy diet, making sure to engage in regular exercise as part of your routine, and engaging in outdoor activities in an atmosphere with plenty of sunlight and oxygen are great ways to improve your general health and overall well-being.
There’s no shortage of ads for expensive face creams and lotions that purport to reduce the appearance of age, billing themselves as “fountains of youth”, or claiming that their effects are so powerful they’re putting plastic surgeons out of business.
Being mentally healthy means being in a state of emotional, psychological, and physical health. All three areas have an impact on our capacity for rational thought, positive mood, and effective behaviors. Several widespread risk factors affect mental health, and they can appear at any age or any moment. The majority of older persons have good mental health, but many are at risk of developing illnesses because of physical, social, neurological, or other environmental variables that are harmful to good mental health.
Older adults may have a long-term primary care provider with whom they have developed a trusting relationship over the years they’ve been seeing them. But as we age, we may find ourselves needing a new doctor. They may have retired from practice, your needs as a patient may have changed, you may have different insurance that no longer covers their practice, or your conditions may require the care of a specialist. No matter the reason, odds are good that at some point in your life you will find yourself shopping for a new healthcare provider for yourself or a loved one.
Memory issues are one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. People who have Alzheimer’s can gradually lose their capacity to have a conversation and react to their surroundings.
As we age, we tend to find our memories become less reliable. We may forget important details, or trivial details like where we placed something. This is a normal part of aging, but there are still ways to help prevent memory loss.
Staying active is important for everyone, but it’s particularly important for seniors. Maintaining your physical health is a key aspect to maintaining independence and quality of life. Strong muscles, good balance, and stamina will help you do everyday tasks like shopping, housekeeping, gardening, enjoying time with your family, and help you to bounce back from injuries and illnesses.
The crime of elder abuse is sadly far too common. Many elders experience abuse at the hands of others, whether it's physical, financial, emotional, or sexual. Another form of abuse is neglect, which is when a person in charge of the wellbeing of a senior fails to provide for their health and safety. But there are many seniors who are in charge of their own wellbeing, and fail to meet their own needs.
Heart attacks occur when there isn’t enough blood flow getting to the heart, preventing it from getting the oxygen it needs to function. This naturally is a dangerous condition, one that can result in lasting tissue damage, and in severe cases, even can cause death in the individual suffering one.
For many people, the pandemic has been a time where much time has been spent quarantined in one’s home, and didn’t spend as much time going out or seeing others. On the other hand, public health experts came to tell us that socializing outdoors was a far safer option than staying indoors and doing it. Events of all kinds, from weddings, to family visits, to church services all picked up stakes and moved to the great outdoors as weather permitted.
While we may be in the middle of winter, you can always find seasonal produce from nearby farms at your local farmers’ market. Eating locally has become a trend in recent years for health and environmental reasons, and for supporting local small businesses and farmers. Local food travels a much shorter distance to get to you and that means it’s fresher, higher in nutrients, and reduces carbon footprint.
Finding a caregiver for a loved one can be a daunting task. They’ll need to be reliable, trustworthy, competent, and compassionate. But how do you know what to look for? There are some key qualities that go towards making someone into an excellent caregiver.
We’ve all had the experience of telling ourselves something along the lines of “I want to eat healthier” and then a week later we find ourselves reaching into a bag of potato chips. Or maybe we resolve to learn how to play the guitar or some other instrument, and then find ourselves never once touching one or going to a lesson. Sometimes the gulf between setting a goal and achieving it can seem insurmountable. Some people seem to be able to set a goal for themselves and then you see them actively working to achieve it. For others, not so much. If you find yourself constantly falling short of the expectations you set for yourself, some strategies in setting goals might be just what you need.
Many people put exercise at the top of their list of new year’s resolutions, and for good reason. Improving health is something that will positively affect all areas of life. Numerous studies have established that regular physical activity is good for our bodily, mental, and emotional health. Moving more is a top recommendation to prevent chronic conditions and diseases like Alzheimer’s or congestive heart failure.
The only constant in life is change, and the amount of happiness and satisfaction we feel with our lives depends on how we adapt to those changes. Some changes may be sudden and unexpected, such as the loss of a loved one, a life-changing injury, the end of a relationship, a financial setback, or a new diagnosis of a chronic illness. Other changes are slow and inevitable, which can both give us time to contemplate and adjust as necessary, and also give us ample time to agonize and dread over what’s coming. But with the right habits and mindset, our senior years can be fun, fulfilling and productive.
Alzheimer’s disease is a cruel and crippling brain disorder that slowly eats away at a person’s memory and thinking skills, and will eventually even take away the ability for them to carry out the simplest and most basic of tasks. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, and despite what you may have heard, is not a normal part of the aging process.
The bigger part of ensuring seniors live a comfortable life begins with accountability from their adult children. They check on their senior loved ones often and take on other extra responsibilities to help the senior live a fulfilling life.
With the average individual life expectancy rising, parents are living longer and longer as their children continue to age deeper into adulthood themselves. Many of those who are caregivers to their elderly parents are themselves elderly. In fact, the average age of someone who is giving care to someone aged 65 or older is a surprisingly high 63 years old themselves. This means that many of those engaged in caregiving are themselves aging along with those they care for, which results in many retirement-aged adult children caring for their senior parents.
Collecting is a widely enjoyed hobby by many people across the country, and many of us who collect are intensely proud of our collections, eager to talk about them and show them off. Most collections are benign and reasonable, perhaps we bring home a souvenir spoon or magnet from everywhere we visit, or we seek out and collect rare baseball cards, lovingly storing them or displaying them in specially built cases or binders. But compulsive hoarding is a detrimental behavior that is completely different than simply having a sprawling collection or two.
The aging process changes every part of our bodies, which necessarily includes our finger and toenails. Over time as we age, our nails will get thicker and harder, take longer to grow, and become dull in appearance and brittle in texture. The appearance of our nails can also change as well, where in youth they may have had a clear or shiny appearance, they may become more yellow colored and opaque.