We do not merely age in years. Our bodies also undergo drastic transformations and changes with aging. Biologically, aging results from the cells reaching their maximum capacity to function, withstand, and repair from extensive wear and tear throughout the lifetime. Mostly, such changes jeopardize physical and mental health and well-being. Thus, healthcare challenges increase when progressive degeneration of cells and tissues affects vital organ functions. The body undergoes more degeneration than repair. Weaker stamina and immunity further promote physical and cognitive impairments. Hence, greying hair, wrinkles, tooth decay, poor eyesight, hearing loss, poor memory, and feeble stature accompany countless other signs of aging.
Older adults also struggle with various illnesses like kidney and urinary tract problems, hypertension, coronary heart diseases, pulmonary infections, cataract, dementia, anemia, osteoarthritis, and many others.
The following sections highlight signs and indications of declining mental and physical health in old age.
- Bedsores from extended bed rest
Since aging interferes with immune system functions, older adults take more time to heal from health complications than younger people. They spend more time resting at a home, hospital, or nursing facility to recuperate. Time-taking recoveries from health issues like falls, fractures, and surgeries further hamper their movement and restrict them to extended bed rest. Though rest speeds up their recovery, extended bedrest can affect their hygiene and lead to skin infections and bedsores.
Bedsores occur when patients spend more time in a resting state without changing positions. Prolonged static rest can overpressure their skin, leading to sores. Sores can be fatal when minor skin ulcers reach advanced and painful levels like stage 4 bedsores – the most severe type. By this stage, you can see muscles, tendons, and bones from the ruptured wounds. These are most common in patients who are too frail, obese, paralyzed, or in a coma and cannot reposition themselves. Or worse, those who are victims of nursing home abuse.
- Forgetfulness and poor memory
Aging affects neural network connections and cognitive functions, leading to poor memory and forgetfulness. It increases neuroinflammation and oxidative stress and reduces hippocampus size and memory storage capacity. Lifestyle choices and well-being also have a significant role in memory decline. But regardless of the biological and physical changes, memory problems are another common old age phenomenon.
The decay process begins at a late age for some, while for others, complications can start early. So, you must have heard and witnessed your elderly forget where they kept something and turn everything upside down but to no avail. They repeat the same incidents, talks, and actions with the same level of excitement, newness, curiosity, and anticipation as they had for the first time. All these changes indicate a decline in their physical and cognitive well-being.
- Poor eyesight
Poor eyesight is also a common sign of health decline in older adults. Though young people also suffer from various eyesight conditions, aging accelerates multiple problems for older adults. One reason for these conditions is the biological degenerative process that affects vision with aging. Poor hygiene and weaker immunity increase the chances of eye infections. Even treatable eye infections can lead to loss of eyesight if they delay treatment. Valium For Sale
Studies estimate that one in three old-age people by the age of 65 years has a vision-reducing condition. Eyesight issues in older adults can manifest in many ways. For instance, poor night vision, vision floaters, cataracts, blurred vision, dry eyes, short-sightedness, and macular degeneration are common challenges for the elderly.
- Joint and muscles pain
The musculoskeletal structure bears entire body weight and withstands extensive pressure throughout one’s lifetime. But bones, joints, and muscles lose flexibility and become weaker with aging. Non-nutritious diet, poor rest, abnormal physical strain, and lack of physical activities further reduce their strength and stamina. Studies suggest that nearly fifty percent of modifications in skeletal and muscular structure emerge from the disuse of muscles, bones, and joints.
So, orthopedic conditions like osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are common musculoskeletal decline changes in older age. These conditions cause stiffness and pain in bones, joints, tendons, and muscles. Older adults are also prone to fractures, falls, and joint dislocations, as their bones are already weak, brittle, and porous.
- Poor hearing capability
Hearing loss is another common age-related transformation in older adults. Generally, adults over 60 years experience a gradual loss of hearing. It involves changes in the ears’ auditory nerve pathway and inner parts. They receive slurred or mumbled sounds when others converse. Older people with hearing impairment cannot comprehend conversations in a background noise until you speak close to them. They feel irritated while listening to high-pitched noise. And so, they use hearing aids to control or filter ambient sound if they experience severe hearing difficulties.
In addition, hearing problems also accelerate their cognitive decline. For instance, older adults with hearing challenges have poor concentration and retention capability than individuals with better hearing.
- Loss of teeth
Loss of teeth is also a common challenge of aging. Aging affects teeth and gums like every other cell, tissue, and body part. Since cells regenerate slowly, gum tissues become thinner, less elastic, and recede faster. Teeth bones lose mineral density and get weaker. As a result, cavities, gum infections, and oral cancers progress with aging.
Carelessness in oral hygiene, eating choices, and delayed consultation with dentists further promote teeth decay and oral health problems. In addition, some medications also have side effects on oral health and contribute to mouth dryness, cavities, and infections. And these challenges contribute to the loss of teeth in older adults. Hence, studies estimate that one in five older adults over 65 lose all of their teeth. And those over 75 years are twice more prone to complete loss of teeth than those below 65 years.
Conclusion
Aging accelerates decay in every body organ. And it is an inevitable natural phenomenon for everyone. But healthy lifestyle, preventive measures, and awareness can delay aging and decaying in older people. So, old-age people can also minimize age-related mental and physical challenges if they push their aging process ahead and cater to their healthcare challenges early on.
