• Recently Written

  • Start losing those fats now!
  • Symptoms of menopause
  • Free money for seniors
  • The hearing aid joke
  • Sleep tight!
  • Keeping a health journal
  • Burn fat now!
  • Granny’s boyfriend joke
  • Bargain for seniors
  • Lung problems

• Categories

  • Dating
  • Health
  • humor
  • Insurance
  • Internet Browsing
  • Making Money
  • News
  • Real Estate
  • Senior Discounts
  • Senior products
  • Technology
    • Cell Phones

• Archives

  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007

• Admin

  • Login
  • Wordpress
  • XHTML

• Search

I could barely remember the time when my friend lost his father due to a heart disease. He was still young at that time. I was around 8 years old at that time and my friend was around 3. He did not know much about what happened but I did most of the story telling part every time we remember those times.

His father’s disease had something to do with a hole in the heart. His father had Atrial Septal Defect or ASD. It usually happens at birth where the child’s heart does not develop properly.

During the past, technology was not that advanced and so the disease was not detected early. It manifested when his dad was closer to his senior years. It struck him hard. He suddenly went weak and got rushed to the hospital. We can barely believe this since he was the athletic type who even played college basketball.

His mom said that his father was having problems breathing especially when exercising. She thought that it was just nothing since he manages to cope up. Lately he was having some respiratory problems. She was scared for her son who may have gotten the disease as well. After all, the disease has a history that leads to genetics.

I talked to this friend of mine and asked him why he is still not having his heart checked. He is currently 23 years old and he still does not know if he got the disease. His answer was simple. He said he did not want to live a restrained life. He was also a sports fanatic who loved boxing and mixed martial arts. He is showing some symptoms but he just does not want it to hinder him from enjoying life. He said that life is too short and he wants to enjoy it to the fullest with the people that he cares the most.

I will continue to talk him out of this to have his heart checked. But at some point, I think he made a pretty good analysis of life.

 

It just cannot be helped not to think if Parkinson’s Disease is hereditary. Those who have relatives who are victims of the disease experience this thought that lingers around their heads. While the disease in itself is considered somatic or non genetic, there is recent information that makes a clear cut impression that there is a genetic component to the disease. In some cases, it is familial or appears to be hereditary but more often, it seams that genetic mutation which could possibly be sporadic account for some forms of the disease itself.

In many instances, a close relative like a parent who has Parkinson’s history does not necessarily indicate that any children will develop the same disease. Bear in mind that there are other factors too that could lead to Parkinson’s such as some medications.

Similar to that of a regular heart attack, a silent heart attack has the same concept as being a medical condition that occurs when the blood supply of the heart is interrupted. The difference kicks in when we start talking about pain.

A regular heart attack causes a lot of pain in the chest, a crushing pain that would make anyone experiencing it grimace and hit the floor. The silent heart attack does not have any chest pain. This means that it could be an automatic death. Some would experience it during their sleep and some would just feel dizzy and just fall down without their knowledge that it was a heart attack.

The best way to combat this is regular diet and exercise. The heart needs to be exercised most of the time so that it would be healthy to pump blood to different parts of the body. The heart is a very vital organ and care for it is a must.

The thing with legal guardianship is that we have to choose the perfect person to take care of our elders. His could be a very close acquaintance or a very caring relative. The added factor of the court makes legal guardianship more difficult.

The court oversees the details as to who will take responsibility and look after the elder. A lawyer is of course needed during cases such as legal guardianship. It is very important that the lawyer that you choose is knowledgeable in elder law when dealing with seniors and must be someone who is patient and compassionate towards elders.

Legal guardianship is an important move that you have to decide on. This is primarily intended for the betterment of a senior’s lifestyle.

Shingles often occur among seniors. It is represented by a rash usually only on one side and following a particular nerve path. It is somewhat similar to chicken pox in a more isolated area.

Shingles can be very painful and the vesicles may rupture and drain a small amount. It will then develop scabs and then the site will soon heal. Once a senior thinks that he or she has shingles, it is advisable that they approach their health provider for immediate treatment because having shingles can cause post infection pain syndrome. An early treatment is needed in order to reduce the risk of a post - infection pain.

It has been placed in surveys that about 20% of people over the age of 65 who had a fracture in the hip will eventually die within the year after the fracture was gained. Indeed, the main cause of death from Osteoporosis is associated with the consequences of fractures. Once diagnosed with osteoporosis, a senior must be treated immediately and the prevention of fractures and falls becomes extremely important.

Other diseases also have an impact on bone loss and survival. A quick consultation to your health care provider is a must and is strongly recommended.

In terms of survival, nobody can live forever. Predicting the survival of a senior with hip fracture generally looks for less than a 6 month survival. However, treatments, nutritions and support systems have a huge impact on survival as well.

Older adults have a rather different symptom of a heart attack as compared to that of a younger adult. Younger ones typically have chest pain that radiates into the left arm or their shoulder. Older ones have a different manifestation. They have shortness of breath, a slight change in their mental status, diaphoresis or profuse sweating with little exertion, palpitations which indicates a decreased blood flow to the heart or the angina. These are symptoms of an incoming heart attack for an elder.

Due to the lesser ability of the body to fight back, heart attacks in elders are generally more dangerous than that of a younger adult. Any manifestation of this must be addressed quickly. 911 is probably the best bet to get to an emergency room as fast as possible.

There are a lot of age related changes that most elders and even their close friends and relatives will notice. One of the changes that occur are the changes in the genitourinary tract that make urinary incontinence more likely.

One of the rare times, tuberculosis is involved with the bladder or there are other infections such as cystitis. These diseases may be the cause of urinary incontinence. Anyone with this symptoms must have their condition checked by a physician or their health care provider. Urinary incontinence can be treated without the involvement of surgery.

You may have noticed already that most of the time, seniors feel cold inside the comfort of their homes even if the room temperature is over 80 degrees. My grandfather had the same problems as well when he was still living. He was actually feeling perfectly fine except for the room temperature problem. It keeps him awake all night because he is freezing.

We consulted a physician after a week of observation since it may be a medical condition already. After a series of tests, we found out that the has hypothyroidism. It made a lot of abnormalities on the thermoregulation of his body which results to cold intolerance.

Do not take this problem lightly. Feeling cold may be a symptom of a different disease.

When caring for an elderly, most of the time, we think that they are just over reacting to the pain that they are feeling. Sometimes we think that they are just acting out to get our attention or they are just having a wild imaginary pain. I thought of that myself when I was taking care of my late grandfather a couple of years ago.

After consulting a doctor, I understood that all pain is real whether it happens psychologically or physically. Psychogenic, phantom pain and other types of pain requires the attention of professionals especially with pain management. The treatment differs based on the patients pain tolerance level. It is then that I understood that every pain that anyone experience is real and has to be taken seriously.

Next Page →

• Blogroll

  • CapWeb Political Blog
  • Senior Forums - Senior Sites User Forums