Common knowledge about geriatric disease prevention and health care

There is no "universal health formula" for the prevention of geriatric diseases. The core is to focus on the three key points of "priority early screening, maintenance that suits your own body constitution, and avoiding pitfalls." Rather than following the trend of taking health supplements and joining the Internet celebrity health regimen, it is most useful to first understand your own body foundation.

Uncle Zhang, who lives downstairs, had a physical examination last year and found that his fasting blood sugar was 6.3mmol/L, just at the critical value of pre-diabetes. At that time, he took the report and scoffed, saying that he was neither thirsty nor losing weight, and didn't even need to take medicine. As a result, this year's physical examination was directly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Now he needs to take insulin every day. Every time he meets someone, he regrets not asking the doctor more. It’s no wonder that many old people feel that “yearly physical examinations are useless, and doctors say there are many minor problems that don’t need to be treated.” This is actually half right and half wrong. The purpose of ordinary routine physical examinations is not to detect serious diseases, but to catch these seemingly “insignificant” critical signals: prehypertension, elevated blood lipid margins, and morphological changes in pulmonary nodules. These are the earliest warnings of geriatric diseases. Of course, some people are worried that special screening will harm the body, such as low-dose spiral CT for people with a history of smoking. Many people are afraid of getting cancer due to excessive radiation. The current industry consensus is that the radiation dose of this type of screening is only 1/5 of conventional CT. For those over 50 years old, it is completely within the safety threshold. There is no need to be overly anxious. Instead, people skip screening because of fear of radiation, and it is a pity that lung cancer is not discovered until late in the middle and late stages. Clinically, we have seen too many cases.

Not long ago, I met a 72-year-old aunt in the clinic. She heard that panax notoginseng powder can open blood vessels. She drank two tablespoons of it every morning and evening. After taking it for half a month, her gums bleed every day, and her coagulation function was found to be abnormal. Many people think that "purely natural" and "old prescriptions" have no side effects. Whether it is dietary supplements or health products, if you are not sure, it is best to ask your doctor before taking them. For example, aspirin, which has been touted as a miracle drug, is indeed a commonly used medicine to prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. However, if people with a history of gastric ulcers and bleeding take it indiscriminately, it can easily cause gastrointestinal bleeding. There are indeed differences in the views of Chinese and Western medicine on the matter of tonic: Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to syndrome differentiation and tonic. People with yang deficiency who are afraid of the cold will eat some ginseng and astragalus as a tonic, but people with yin deficiency and excessive fire will have nosebleeds and insomnia all night long. ； Western medicine, on the other hand, pays more attention to evidence-based evidence. There is no clear indication of nutrient deficiency, and it is generally not recommended to take preventive supplements casually. Both views are reasonable. There is no need to argue about right or wrong. Only what suits you is useful.

Look at the old guys in the community who go on a rampage every day before dawn. Many of them have knee pain after walking for two months and can’t go downstairs. This is because they haven’t found the right way of exercise that suits them. There is really no need to follow the trend and pursue 10,000 steps a day. For elderly people over 70 years old, walking three to four thousand steps a day is enough. Tai Chi and Ba Duan Jin practice for a while are enough. If the joints are not good, swimming and seated Ba Duan Jin can also achieve the exercise effect. There are also people who say that "eating vegetarian can reduce the three high blood pressure". I have seen an old man who has been vegetarian for three years, but his triglycerides are still ridiculously high. Instead, he is so thin that only bones are left because he does not consume enough protein. He should avoid this and that in his daily diet. Add less oil and less salt. Eat an egg and a glass of milk every day, and eat fish two or three times a week. This is better than any extreme diet. To be honest, among the many elderly people in their 80s and 90s who I have come across who are still in good health, few of them follow health-preserving formulas every day. Instead, they all have an open mind and don’t take anything to heart. This is more effective than any expensive health care products.

Oh, by the way, many people also ask, “I already have high blood pressure/diabetes, am I unable to prevent complications? ”Of course not. I have an old patient who has suffered from high blood pressure for 20 years. He takes medicine on time every day, checks his blood pressure three times a week, and only pays attention to a little salt in his diet. Now he is 82, and his heart and kidney function are good. On the contrary, he is in much better condition than those who do not take medicine when they are sick and secretly replace anti-hypertensive medicine with "pure natural anti-hypertensive health products". There have been rumors for many years that long-term use of antihypertensive drugs can damage the liver and kidneys. In fact, the incidence of side effects of commonly used first-line antihypertensive drugs is less than 2%. On the contrary, renal failure and cerebral hemorrhage caused by poor long-term control of blood pressure are the real high risks. Of course, if you do experience discomfort such as dizziness and cough after taking a certain drug, you can just find a doctor to adjust the medicine in time. There is no need to force it or stop the drug casually.

To break it down, there really aren’t that many complicated ways to prevent geriatric diseases. You don’t need to memorize a long list of health tips, and you don’t need to stock up on what others eat. Pay more attention to your own body’s small signals. If you are unsure, go to the geriatric health department of the community hospital and ask. Many of them are free consultations, which are much more reliable than those wild prescriptions you can find through short videos. After all, living a comfortable life is better than anything else.