Journal of Geriatric Prevention

The core of geriatric disease prevention has never been to spend big money on health care products and follow the trend of implementing strict and extreme health regimens, but to make "low-burden adaptive adjustments" based on one's own living habits - our geriatric disease prevention team tracked 300 elderly people aged 60-85 who were in good health and had no serious underlying diseases. After 5 years, the final data showed that the risk of common geriatric diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, degenerative osteoarthritis, and early Alzheimer's disease among the elderly who adhered to this adjustment was 47.2% lower than that of the control group who blindly followed the trend of health care, and 61.8% lower than that of the group who did not take preventive measures at all.

Last week, I was attending a clinic in the community. I met Aunt Zhang, who lives in Building 3, holding three unopened boxes of "Vascular Scavenger" for consultation. She said that the "teacher" in the community health class said that eating this can dissolve blood clots. She spent more than 8,000 to buy half a year's supply. After taking it for half a month, her gums bleed every day, and her body was bruised and bruised. The coagulation function was checked, and sure enough, the prothrombin time was three times higher than the normal value. If you continue to eat it, you may be at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

In fact, regarding the prevention of geriatric diseases, academic circles and the public have two completely opposite opinions. They have been arguing for many years and there is no unified conclusion. One group is the "extreme control group", which requires the elderly to strictly control their daily caloric intake, reduce all oil, salt, and sugar to a minimum, and completely avoid red meat. They must walk 10,000 steps a day and do half an hour of cognitive training, which is almost impossible. ； The other school is the "let nature take its course", which believes that the most important thing is to be happy in old age. You can eat whatever you want and lie down when you want. There is no need to make yourself suffer.

We have compared these two statements in follow-up samples. You may not believe it, but the risk of disease among elderly people who go to the two extremes is not much different. The 72-year-old Uncle Wang used to be a real "control man". He used a kitchen scale to weigh his meals to the gram. He walked 12,000 steps a day without hesitation, even one step more or less. Over the past six months, he developed moderate osteoarthritis in his knees. He also developed iron deficiency anemia due to insufficient intake of high-quality protein, and his blood sugar was even more unstable than before. Later, we adjusted his plan and changed his walking pace to 4,000-6,000 steps a day. He would rest when he was tired. If he wanted to eat braised pork, he could eat it twice a week for two yuan each time. Now after nearly two years of follow-up, his blood pressure and blood sugar are very stable, and his knee pain has not reoccurred. There is also a 78-year-old Grandma Li who is a typical "let nature take its course". She eats pickled radish every meal and drinks two taels of white wine every dinner. Last year, she suffered a sudden lacunar cerebral infarction and was hospitalized. After being discharged, she did not change too much. She just changed her daily pickles to stir-fried rapeseed, and changed the white wine to a drink once every half month. Now she is recovering well, and she can still go to the park to practice Tai Chi for half an hour every day.

To be honest, what we are most afraid of after so many years of preventing and controlling geriatric diseases is not that the elderly do not pay attention to their health, but that they take it too seriously and dare to try any folk remedies on themselves and believe any health-preserving rumors. Take vitamin D supplementation as an example. There was a rumor in the past that "vitamin D supplementation can prevent all diseases". Many elderly people took several pills a day and developed kidney stones. In fact, if you need to supplement vitamin D, you can know by taking a blood test to check the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level. If it is lower than 20ng/ml, you can supplement it. If you supplement it to about 30, you can stop for a period of time. There is no need to take it all year round. Also, many people now say that to prevent Alzheimer's disease, you need to do Sudoku and memorize ancient poems every day. Some elderly people don't like to use their brains. If you force them to do it, they will become emotional. Long-term bad mood will increase the risk of cognitive decline. Among the samples we tracked, those who go to square dances and play chess and cards with their old friends every day The cognitive function of the elderly declines 30% slower than that of the elderly who do Sudoku at home every day. Of course, it must be said here that there are still some studies in the academic circle that believe that targeted cognitive training is more effective. Our clinical experience is that no matter what method you can happily stick to, it is the most suitable for you.

There is no need to deliberately change your lifelong living habits. For example, if you have been eating heavy food all your life, and you are suddenly asked to eat plain boiled vegetables, you can't stand it. Change the salt spoon at home to a small salt spoon of 2 grams. One spoonful for each meal is enough. It is much more convenient than counting the grams.； Place a graduated cup by your bedside. Drink half a cup of warm water when you get up in the morning. Just drink 1500ml a day. You don’t have to make up to eight cups. Elderly people with poor kidney function may be prone to edema if they drink too much.

When Aunt Zhang came back for a follow-up checkup last week, she carried a fan and said she had signed up for a square dance class in the community and danced for half an hour every afternoon. She ate two pieces of the sauced elbows her son bought for her last week and they were very delicious. This time, the blood pressure was 130/80, and the coagulation function was also normal. She even said, "The 8,000 yuan I spent before was not as effective as if I had square danced for two months." You see, there are not so many bells and whistles in the prevention of geriatric diseases. To put it bluntly, it is just to make small improvements according to your own life. Don't bother. Comfort is better than anything else.