The Importance of Senior Health

By: Stephanie Rice
Submitted: 2008-07-22 18:00:48
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Growing older often means a heightened awareness of our bodies and common ailments that can occur more frequently. Issues such as incontinence, joint and muscle stiffness, or lack of balance become normal parts of our lives that we can minimize by pursuing a healthy, active lifestyle. Listening more closely to what your body is telling you, and incorporating some basic habits into your daily routine can greatly improve quality of life and possibly prevent some more serious health issues in the future.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a senior is very important and can be implemented with a few simple changes. Proper senior care and senior health can not only improve your quality of living, but can also extend the length of your life. It keeps the mind and body fit, protects against and fights off disease, and keeps current ailments from growing worse.

Ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle includes staying active.  Participate in fun, rigorous activities such as water aerobics, brisk walking, golf or tennis.  With increased activity, it’s important to maintain a healthy diet as well.  A complete daily vitamin is vital for supplementing your daily food intake.  Make sure to eat well-balanced meals and in moderation.  Taking in more calories per day than is burned could lead to obesity and other serious health ailments such as diabetes.  Overall, you should remain active as you grow older and continue to eat foods that are full of nutritional value that also contain important vitamins and minerals to sustain a healthy, active body.

Common Senior Health Ailments

The natural aging process occurs both mentally and physically over the years, and it’s our job to make sure we are providing both our brain and our body with regular tune ups. Medical experts believe that there is a strong correlation between staying physically active and maintaining a sound mind.  When the body constantly utilizes the mind to perform physical activities, the mind grows stronger and, as research has shown, can slow down the progress of mental diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Although age undeniably takes its toll on the mind and body, there are numerous ways to prevent or even ease the progression of certain ailments.  For instance, osteoporosis can be prevented early by getting daily recommended amounts of calcium and Vitamin D.  Frequently participating in weight-bearing activities or exercise also helps to lessen the chances of developing osteoporosis.  Diabetes can be prevented or delayed by increasing your level of physical activity and maintaining a healthy well-balanced diet.  A healthy diet and regular exercise along with maintaining an active physical and social life has also been suggested to prevent or slow down Alzheimer’s.  While these are only a few ailments many seniors face today and some potential preventative measures for each, preventative health care and treatment options are available for nearly all senior health concerns.

Advice for Living an Active Adult Lifestyle

Healthy adult lifestyles can often prevent health care issues from occurring or help seniors to improve their quality of life. Preventative senior care is vital to senior health and for keeping our body and minds fit as we grow older. Certain activities may thwart off illness, and will actually improve mental and physical functions. Here is a list of preventative healthcare activities for both the body and mind:

•    Maintain a healthy diet – A healthy diet, rich in fiber, calcium, fruits and vegetables, is key in preventing or delaying most senior-related ailments. Providing your body and mind with necessary nutrients and vitamins is essential for senior health.
•    Exercise – Regular, non-strenuous daily exercise keeps your heart, bones, and other vitals working as they should. Physical activity can prevent a variety of physical ailments including heart attacks, and can help build up bone mass (helpful in the prevention of osteoporosis). However, it also has a large range of mental benefits, and helps to improve brain function – which is important in thwarting the progression of Alzheimer’s.
•    Leisure Activities – Leisure activities encompass anything that provides a relaxing environment combining a social, physical, and mental aspect. This improves areas in both the body and mind which has proven effective in preventing or slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s as well as many other senior health concerns.
•    Exercise Your Mind – Exercise your mind on a daily basis by learning something new, playing games, participating in social activities, reading, and anything else that challenges your brain and offers an opportunity to expand your knowledge.

Preventative Senior Care

Generally, your family practitioner can help you decide where to go for certain diagnostic tests, or will perform the tests themselves. These tests may include anything from a bone density analysis to hearing tests to sleep studies. If you’re concerned about symptoms, see your doctor for advice on the correct path to take.

Article source: Expert Articles