Tag: Old Age Problems

Family Matters: Ways To Care For Older Family Members

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When you’re young, it seems impossible to imagine your parents or any other older relatives reaching the stage where they’re not able to do everything for themselves. Which means that when that time does come, it can be incredibly upsetting to come to terms with. However, just because it’s upsetting doesn’t mean that it’s something that you should ignore. The truth is that when your older relatives start to struggle with day-to-day tasks, their need for support is likely to fall onto you. Most people are more than happy to be there for older relatives when they need them, but they aren’t sure what they can actually do to help. With that in mind, here are some ways that you can more effectively care for your parents or any other older family members.

 

Set time aside for them

 

One of the hardest things for older people is the feeling that they no longer matter to those around them. As though, now that they’re older, they’re no longer as important as they might have been once upon a time. However, that’s obviously not true, and a great way to support them is to let them know how important they are to you by spending time with them. Sure, most of us have pretty busy lives, but the fact of the matter is, no one is too busy to take a little time out of their week to spend with someone important to them.

 

Get them professional help

 

Of course, the help that your older relative needs might be a little more specialised than just a sympathetic ear. If they need some kind of specialised care, then a service like Spectrum healthcare might just be perfect. Organisations like Spectrum offer some of the best home health care available meaning that they can get all of the help they need without having to go into a home and leave the place where they’re most comfortable.

 

Help them keep their independence

 

If there’s one thing that a lot of people say is harder than anything else when it comes to getting older, it’s the fact that they begin to feel as though they have no independence. If you’re looking after an older relative, then make sure that you’re not smothering or patronising them. Make sure that you can help them in ways that won’t make them feel useless or lacking in independence. If they can do things by themselves, don’t hover over them. Just because they need a little extra help doesn’t mean that they’ve suddenly turned into children who can’t do anything.

 

Of course, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t put your life on hold in order to look after your relatives. Sure, you may be willing to make changes and sacrifices in order to help, but if you’re giving everything up, then you’re just going to end up missing out on time that you could spend on your own life. If you can’t take care of yourself, then you’re never going to be able to take care of anyone else.

 

 

As Time Goes By… What We Need To Look Out For

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Ageing is one of those inevitabilities of life, but we don’t always know the best way to cope with it. The importance of looking after yourself as you enter your 30, 40, 50, and every decade beyond, means you need to take a little bit of extra care with how you do things on a regular basis. But also, lots of people feel that age is just an inevitable decline, but in fact, if we keep an eye on specific symptoms as we age, we can learn to manage these better, and live a much richer life. So, what is worth keeping an eye on, regardless of how old or young we are?

 

Hearing Problems

Loss of hearing isn’t something that’s just for elders, the more you are exposed to loud noise, including music, the likelihood is that you will develop hearing problems sooner rather than later. Tinnitus is one of those things you need to be aware of, and it can start by hearing a ringing, or some sort of noise inside your ear. Luckily, there are various forms of tinnitus treatment now, but it’s important to be aware of some of the things you might be doing that accelerates your hearing loss. One prominent example is if you listen to music through earphones.

 

Various Bone Issues

While there are things like osteoarthritis that can strike when you are much older, the seeds are sown much younger in age. If you like to go running to keep healthy, there is a chance that you might be using improper form, and if you run too much, it can wear away at your cartilage, meaning your joints will rub together and be very uncomfortable. It’s always important to take proper stock in the health of your joints and bones, especially after the age of 40. But strength training is one of those solutions that help, as long as you do it with proper form.

 

Digestive Problems

This isn’t something you notice so much when you are younger, but gradually as time wears on, so will your stomach. The lining of our stomach can be eroded by the poor diet we can eat through our lives and our gut bacteria can be worn down, which can contribute to issues relating to inflammation, as well as food intolerances. A few ways to help our stomach is to eat foods rich in probiotics, which helps to replenish the bacteria in our guts, but also, giving our stomachs time to repair itself. While they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, there has been research into how fasting can help repair the cells of every part of your body, not just your gut. You can start to do this by, very simply, skipping breakfast now and again.

 

In addition to these, one of the main things we all know this is that our minds aren’t as sharp as they used to be. You can remedy this by, very simply, exercising your mind. Much like we exercise our bodies, you can do the same for your brain. Ageing doesn’t have to be a depressing thing, as long as you keep an eye out for the key problems we all get.

 

 

 

5 Ways To Avoid Health Issues As You Grow Older

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Everyone ages and everyone will encounter health decline at one stage or another in their lives. However, to prepare ourselves for the race against time, practicing good health care and a balanced lifestyle the only way to slow down the ticking clock. Keeping our body, mind, and soul healthy and happy is the true secret to living a long life.

Diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer are aggressive beasts, taking many people unaware and stealing their health away. But these diseases are preventable to a certain extent. Even though the genes for these conditions may already lay dormant in your veins, conducting a better lifestyle can halt them from ever manifesting destructively. Today we are going to talk about how you can reduce your risk for health issues and stay healthy for longer.

Stay Active

It’s no surprise that an active lifestyle is good for your health. It can help you lose excess fat surrounding your organs, let you build muscles and even assist in the fight against common illnesses, as it boosts your immune system. Exercising for 30 minutes a day is good for your heart, helps you to digest food more easily and allows you to sleep better. It’s a no brainer.

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Feel Stress-Free

Stress is one of the primary causes of premature health issues. It is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, depression, obesity and even asthma. Calming your mind and body at the end of the day is as essential as eating your greens. Not only does your body need to stay healthy, but your mind also does too. Consider meditation. Wake up five minutes earlier in the morning and meditate before you start your day, there are loads of meditation apps which allow you to do this easily.

Avoid Harmful Triggers

There are many dangerous triggers in the world which can cause or aggravate health issues. Smoking is one of them, and if you are struggling to quit altogether, consider moving to a nicotine only substitute such as Mount Baker Vapor. Because it doesn’t contain the harmful chemicals which a cigarette does, it is the safer option for those who want to make a healthy change. Alcohol is another trigger which is linked to liver failure and weight problems. However, you don’t have to stop drinking altogether, just practice moderation.

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Eat A Balanced Diet

Being overweight or obese can lead to a number of different health problems:

  • type 2 diabetes
  • high blood pressure
  • heart disease and strokes
  • certain types of cancer
  • sleep apnea

But you can easily prevent the risk of becoming overweight by following a balanced, healthy diet. That’s not to say you have to swear off Dominos Pizza for life; it’s all about moderation. You can cheat every now and again as long as you maintain a healthy diet in between.

Don’t Ignore The Doctor

Finally, if you have a recurring cough, you need to urinate more than normal, or your stomach hurts when you eat: visit the doctor. A trained medical professional will help you with whatever the issue may be and will be able to give you advice on how to prevent it in the future.

Not a Day Older: Taking Care of Your Body and Mind in Old Age

Growing old takes a toll on your body. Although most of us will change as we age, and looking in the mirror is more of a surprise than anything else, you need to take care of yourself more than ever when you’re getting older. If you think the amount you exercised back in the days is what you’re living off now, you’re quite right – but that doesn’t mean you should stop caring about your body and mental health quite yet.

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The truth is, your mind as well as your physical health will be declining when you’ve reached a ripe age and to keep yourself healthy, it’s important to look at health holistically. Here is a handful of the best preventative measures you can take for your health in old age so that you can enjoy a functioning body and a healthy mind for as long as possible.

The best exercise to stay young

The mitochondria in our bodies are considered the cell’s power generator; it produces energy and converts it into forms that are usable by our cells. As we age, our cells stop to regenerate as easily as it did before, and are simultaneously affected by the mitochondria diminishing in both number and vigor.

We’d like to keep it as a generator for as long as we can, and certain types of exercise have actually proven to undo some of what aging has done to our cell’s power producer. The type of exercise that produced the biggest change in people’s genes in a study from this year was intense exercise – or interval training. There are a lot of different ways to incorporate this into your regular routine, although it’s usually associated with running or jogging. How well your aging family member is able to cope with running, you know better than any, but consider similar options such as cycling if this is difficult due to painful knees or other immobilities.

While there’s no decent alternative to growing old, by taking care of yourself and your older family members, you’ll be able to enjoy active years as a senior citizen and leap from one Pilates class to the next one. It will keep you independent and happy for as long as possible so that you can get much more out of your Medicare Supplement plans – and enjoy your golden years for a long time still.

Aging and stress

Stress is bad company when you’re trying to look after your health, and little is able to have such an impact on your health as this one. While we may experience hard times at any age, you’re more likely to have gone through a traumatic emotional loss when you’re older and it becomes even more important to know how to deal with this.

To get in touch with your spirituality can take you a step away from stress and depression; while there are a lot of ways to do this, the most popular way is to try meditation or holistic exercises such as yoga.

The combination of a loss of a loved one, loneliness, and even financial concern can make the stress factor a lot worse when you age – and seniors are at an increased risk for depression. Take care of your mental health as soon as possible and reach out to a professional or your family members for a chat, and practice expressing your emotions.

Remember to laugh and surround yourself with positive people who enjoy life and have managed to stay active. They’ll keep us young for longer and make it easier to enjoy everything life has to offer.

 

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