Health issues in Old Age

Health issues in Old Age

As a person gets old his/her health goes down. They don’t have enough power or strength to perform many tasks in their lives. So, they end up getting help from their family members and health care professionals. Main factors which affect health in old age are: sleep, nutrition, cancer, and immigrant status.

Sleep: Often old people sleep less compared to the young adults. Sleep can be interrupted due to many reasons such as mental health problems and physical diseases.

Nutrition: Old people need to eat balanced diet. Due to their reduced physical activity level, their appetite goes down. So, they only eat small amount of food and don’t get enough nutrition required for good health.

Cancer: Many old people take cancer screening tests because the risk of getting cancer increases as person gets old. So, the family doctors often recommend cancer screening just to be safe, so they can handle the disease before it gets worse. Old people recover much slower compared to younger adults due to their poor health and immune system.

Immigrant Status: Immigrants have difficulty in communicating due to their language problems. So, they can’t explain their symptoms and signs of disease to the doctors and nurses which results in inappropriate treatment and prescription. Sometimes old immigrants don’t feel comfortable with their care and treatment due to their different belief system.

 The above mentioned factors have huge impact on elderly health status. Family support can improve the poor health of elders effectively which can be achieved by providing them proper care and by respecting their feelings.