Reflections on lectures on geriatric disease prevention and health care

There is never a one-size-fits-all formula for the prevention of geriatric diseases. Any discussion of "health tips" that are divorced from the baseline of one's body is essentially irresponsible. Rather than blindly following the trend of taking health supplements and joining in the fun of health preservation, the most cost-effective way to prevent diseases is to first understand your own physical condition and then make targeted adjustments.

To be honest, I was forced to attend by my mother. My previous impression of this kind of lecture was still in the routine of "selling sky-high-priced mattresses and peddling health-care miracle medicines." When I entered the door, I scanned around and found that the people sitting on the stage were Dr. Wang from the Chronic Disease Department of the District Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Director Zhang from the Geriatrics Department of the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. There was not even a product display stand, so I relaxed and sat down to listen. My mother was still clutching a small book filled with Douyin health tips. Next to her, Aunt Zhang was already holding up her phone to record the screen, intending to send it back to her old sisters.

Interestingly, the views of the two doctors are not completely unified. When talking about calcium supplementation, Dr. Wang said that according to the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, people over 50 years old should consume 1,000mg of calcium every day, combined with vitamin D, and 15 minutes of sunshine every day can promote absorption. Calcium carbonate is the first choice, and there is no need to buy imported calcium that costs hundreds of dollars. As a result, Director Zhang immediately added that this is not applicable to everyone. For the elderly who are at risk of kidney stones or have particularly weak spleen and stomach, large-dose calcium carbonate supplementation will easily increase the metabolic burden. It is better to eat more sesame paste and blanched spinach, and drink a cup of self-ground soy milk every day to supplement calcium without irritating the gastrointestinal tract. The two of them kept talking to each other, but they made the health care knowledge that I thought was "absolutely correct" come true. They didn't forcefully distinguish who was right and who was wrong. They only said that you should choose based on your own physical examination report.

During the lecture, Uncle Li, who lives in Building 12, came up to ask a question. He said that he had read on the Internet that "walking 10,000 steps a day can prevent the three highs." After walking for three months, his knees hurt so much that he had to go up and down stairs. He went to check for degenerative arthritis and a small amount of effusion. Dr. Wang couldn't laugh or cry, and said that there is no uniform standard for exercise. If the joints themselves are worn out, not to mention 10,000 steps, 6,000 steps are more. For people like Uncle Li, walking about 4,000 steps on a flat road every day is enough. Don't join in the fun of that number of steps, which will damage your knees. My mother secretly poked at me from below, saying that she and Aunt Zhang had previously competed with each other to see who could take the most steps every day, but luckily it didn’t last long.

When talking about the currently controversial issue of "whether a vegetarian diet can prevent age-related diseases," the two doctors' opinions were quite interesting. Dr. Wang said that elderly people who are completely vegetarian are very likely to be deficient in vitamin B12. Long-term deficiency will increase the risk of cognitive impairment and peripheral neuropathy. If you really want to be vegetarian, you should take B12 supplements regularly. Director Zhang said that you don’t have to go to the extreme of being completely vegetarian or completely vegetarian. You should eat less red meat, eat more fish, shrimp, and soy products in a variety of ways, and eat animal liver twice a week to replenish nutrients. It is much more comfortable and easier to stick to than being a vegetarian. They didn’t deny the idea of ​​“all-vegetarian health” being talked about on the Internet. They just said that if you really insist on being a vegetarian, you should check your blood regularly to see if your nutrient levels are sufficient, and don’t force yourself to eat and cause problems.

I have made a lot of mistakes before, always thinking that buying more expensive fish oil and lecithin for my mother means being more filial. This time I heard Dr. Wang say that if the blood lipid index is normal and the elderly can eat deep-sea fish twice a week and a handful of nuts every day, there is no need to supplement these preparations. Eating too much will increase the burden on the liver. After hearing this, my mother glared at me and said that the two boxes of fish oil I bought for her last year have not been finished yet, and it was a complete waste of money.

In the past, I always thought that "prevention of geriatric diseases" was a very grand thing, requiring taking various supplements and doing various specialized exercises. But after listening to it this time, I discovered that it actually all comes down to small things in daily life: for example, adding less than half a spoonful of salt when cooking is more effective than taking any stress-controlling health products.； For example, elderly people who are already thin and have little muscle mass should not follow the trend of eating 70% full. Eat more eggs and drink more glasses of milk. Only by preventing sarcopenia can you reduce the risk of falling. ； For example, patients with high blood pressure should not stop taking antihypertensive medicines without listening to the Internet claims that eating celery can lower blood pressure. Dietary adjustment is always only a supplement, and taking medicines as prescribed by the doctor is the first priority.

At the end of the session, the doctor gave everyone a simple physical self-evaluation form, asking them to fill in their basic diseases, daily eating habits, and exercise habits. He could also adjust the plan one-on-one for the next lecture. I accompanied my mother to pick some spinach and small yellow croaker at the vegetable shop at the entrance of the community. She kept talking about adding some sesame seeds when making soy milk in the future. In the afternoon, she sat on the bench in the small garden to bask in the sun, and stopped competing with Aunt Zhang and the others. The wind blows very comfortably, and I suddenly feel that there is no magic health formula that can cure all diseases. The most useful one is the one that suits me.