20 core health information for the elderly

"20 Core Information for Elderly Health" is currently the most universal practical guide for elderly health in China jointly issued by the National Health Commission and the National Office on Aging. It covers the five major dimensions of nutritious diet, exercise and fitness, chronic disease management, psychological adjustment, and social participation. All items have been verified by clinical geriatrics experts and public health scholars for three rounds. There is no metaphysical health content. If ordinary people implement it according to their own conditions, they can reduce the risk of common elderly diseases by more than 30%.

I have been working in a community geriatric health clinic for nearly 6 years, and I have seen two extreme attitudes towards these 20 items: one is to treat them as golden rules, eating accurately to the gram and walking by the minute, which makes you anxious all day long and unable to sleep well.； The other is that they think it's all "cliché", that they drink as much as they should, stop antihypertensive drugs at will, only to regret it when something goes wrong in the end. In fact, both of these are not necessary. These 20 items are never a test paper that requires everyone to get full marks. They are a reference line for everyone to avoid pitfalls.

Don't tell me, the first thing many adults and adults pay attention to is the eating part. It mentions "consume no less than 12 kinds of food every day, and encourage eating more high-quality protein", which really does not mean that you can fill up the whole banquet every day. In the past, Aunt Zhang in our community only had pickles for every porridge she had. She said her teeth were hard to chew and she couldn't chew hard food. After reading the guide, she added a boiled egg every morning and ate a small handful of plain almonds in the afternoon. Within two months, she took a blood pressure test and found that the low pressure that had always been floating around before was stabilized within the normal range. If your teeth are really so bad that you can't chew solid vegetables or meat, it's okay. The guide also mentions that you can chop the ingredients into fine pieces and make soup. If you really don't eat enough, follow your doctor's advice and take supplements. You don't have to hold on to the idea that "it's medicine but it's poison". As for reducing salt and sugar, you don’t have to make the food so bland that you can’t swallow it all at once. My advice to the elderly is to reduce it week by week. This week, sprinkle 1/5 less salt per spoonful, and reduce it more next week. Use natural spices such as onions, ginger, garlic, and white pepper to enhance the taste. You will gradually get used to it, and it is much easier to stick to it than to forcefully change the taste.

After talking about food, let’s talk about the exercise issue that everyone is most likely to go to extremes. The "150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week" mentioned in the guide really does not mean that you should take 20,000 steps every day. In the past, there was an uncle Li who walked on the trail every day before dawn in order to get some exercise. Within two months, fluid accumulated in his knees after walking. When he came to the clinic on crutches, he felt aggrieved, saying that he was following the guidelines but still had problems. In fact, if you look carefully, the entry clearly states "Act within your ability and proceed step by step." If you have bad joints, practice Tai Chi or Ba Duan Jin. If you have bad waist, just sit on a chair and do some upper limb stretching. Moderate intensity does not have to be so breathless that you can't speak. It's just right if your heart rate reaches "170 minus your age" and you can speak normally but can't sing. Oh, by the way, there is also information on preventing falls. You must install handrails in the bathroom at home, and don’t wear foam slippers with particularly slippery soles. Last month, a grandma in our community stepped on a vegetable leaf on the ground and slipped while wearing slippers and broke her femur. If she had paid attention to this small detail earlier, she would not have suffered this crime.

The most common pitfall for people is actually the management of chronic diseases. I have seen too many controversies: some people say, "This medicine is only three parts poisonous. Stop it as soon as your blood pressure is normal." Some people say, "The imported health care products I take are more effective than the medicines prescribed by the hospital." Others say, "As you get older, you don't need to worry about high blood sugar." These core messages have already given a clear conclusion: medication for chronic diseases should be taken according to the doctor’s advice, do not reduce or stop medication on your own, and do not use health products to replace prescription drugs. Regularly monitor indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids to detect abnormalities and intervene early. Of course, it doesn’t mean that health care products are useless. For example, as we age, we lose calcium quickly. It’s perfectly fine to take some calcium tablets and vitamin D from regular manufacturers. But don’t believe in the nonsense about “can cure diabetes” and “remove blood clots in three months.” If there really is such a magical thing, it has already entered the hospital pharmacy. There is no need to post small advertisements in the group every day to trick the elderly into buying it. Oh, by the way, I would also like to mention something about fraud prevention that many people ignore. It is also clearly stated in the 20th article. Last month, an aunt in our community spent more than 30,000 yuan to buy an "energy mattress that can cure rheumatism." In fact, if she remembers that "all products that claim to be able to cure chronic diseases and cure all diseases are all scams," she will not be fooled.

Many people think that health means there is nothing wrong with them. In fact, the impact of mental state is much greater than many people think. Half of the 20 items are dedicated to psychological and social participation, saying that you should interact with people more, stop being bored at home all day, accept the normal changes of aging, and stop competing with yourself when you were young. The Grandpa Wang I knew used to stay at home after retiring. He complained all day long that he was useless, suffered from insomnia, and couldn't eat. His children thought he was "getting angry when he was old." Later, he enrolled in a calligraphy class at a community college for the elderly, and went out with the old guys every week to collect folk songs and write Spring Festival couplets. Within three months, he stopped taking the sleeping pills he had been taking for half a year. We should also be wary of depression in the elderly. Many people think that the elderly just "love to think nonsense". In fact, if you are in a bad mood for half a month, can't eat well, can't sleep well, and have no interest in anything, don't just carry it on. See a community doctor or psychiatrist for a look. It's not a shame.

After all, these 20 tips are not "curses" for the elderly at all, but little reminders to help everyone live more comfortably. You don’t have to force yourself to do everything. If you like to drink a few sips of wine throughout your life, as long as you don’t drink too much and don’t feel uncomfortable after drinking, there is no need to quit completely. ； If you really don't like to exercise, it's better to go downstairs and bask in the sun every day and chat with your old neighbors for half an hour than to stay bored at home. If you are really unsure about something, don’t believe the unknown health posts posted in the group. Ask a family doctor in the community, which is more reliable than anything else.