Older adults are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and heart disease. Learn more about chronic disease self-management, a low-cost program that helps people with chronic illnesses learn to control and improve their health. With age, bones tend to shrink in size and density. Age-related bone changes can also cause you to go a little lower. Muscles tend to lose strength, stamina and flexibility.
That, in turn, can affect coordination, stability and balance. These changes increase the risk of falls. Falling with weaker bones makes a bone more likely to break. Common conditions in old age include hearing loss, cataracts and refractive errors, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression, and dementia. As people age, they are more likely to have several conditions at the same time.
Many age-related changes are common, such as a mild decrease in vision and hearing, high blood pressure, muscle weakness, or a weakened immune system. However, some health problems are not considered part of the normal aging process in older adults.
Chronic conditions that affect kidney function, cause cognitive impairment, or otherwise undermine an older person's quality of life should be treated with geriatric medications.
Older adults are at greater risk of chronic health problems, such as diabetes, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. In addition, 1 in 4 older adults falls each year, and falls are the leading cause of injuries in this age group.2 Physical activity can help older adults prevent both chronic diseases and fall-related injuries. And since older adults are more likely to develop one chronic condition or another, it's important that families and the overall health care system are prepared to deal with this growing need to age in a healthy way.Alzheimer's disease is a specific type of dementia, a condition that causes memory loss and difficulty thinking or solving problems to the point of interfering with daily activities. There are numerous variables that differentiate the treatment of older adults from that of younger adults, such as polypharmacy, the vague presentation of symptoms and attribution difficulties in cases where several health conditions occur at the same time. While some of the variations in the health of older people are genetic, most are due to people's physical and social environment, including their homes, neighborhoods, and communities, as well as their personal characteristics, such as gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Nearly 60% of older adults were treated for high blood pressure, a common condition that affects both the amount of blood the heart pumps and the resistance of the arteries to blood flow.
Weight exercises and exercises designed to increase muscle strength can also help older adults manage the condition. Maintaining healthy behavior throughout life, in particular following a balanced diet, regular physical activity and abstaining from smoking, contributes to reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases, improving physical and mental capacity and delaying dependence on care. In addition, obesity, which affects about 42% of adults older than 60,2 can increase the risk of diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. According to research from the NCOA, nearly 95% of adults age 60 and older have at least one chronic condition, while nearly 80% have two or more.
With these kinds of odds, you might wonder if there's anything you can do to prevent the onset of a chronic medical condition or to make it easier to manage an existing one. The main risk factors for these chronic diseases are things you often can't control, such as age, family history and genetics. Nearly 29% of older adults were treated for ischemic heart disease, a condition caused by plaque buildup that narrows the arteries leading to the heart. These programs, which are available in the community and online, help older adults better manage their chronic diseases and improve their quality of life.
If these additional years are dominated by diminished physical and mental capacity, the implications for older people and for society are more negative. 16 percent of older adults sought treatment for depression, a treatable medical condition that's not a normal part of aging.
