Preventive methods for geriatric diseases

There is no universal standard answer to the prevention of geriatric diseases. The core logic is a combination of "lifestyle adjustments that suit one's basic conditions, targeted specialist screenings once or twice a year, and early intervention and early control of chronic diseases." There is no prevention program that can cover all people, and there is no special health product that can prevent all geriatric diseases.

Last week, when I was helping out at a community free clinic, I met a 62-year-old Uncle Zhang. He spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy seal oil, which is said to be able to "open blood vessels and prevent the three highs" from a health class. He ate it for three months. As a result, he felt dizzy and went for a checkup last week. Not only did his blood lipids not drop, but his uric acid was much higher than before. He already had high uric acid, so the animal fat content in the health product was not low, which was not helpful.

In fact, there have been two views in the industry and among the people arguing about how the elderly should eat. One group is the "absolutely light party", which says that the elderly have poor metabolism and must eat less salt, sugar, and oil, with whole grains and vegetables filling their plates. The other group is the "happiness first party", which says that after living to this age, you can eat whatever you want, and a good mood is more important than any other indicators. Both views are reasonable, but they are easy to go to extremes. I met a 78-year-old Aunt Li before. After listening to the Qing Party, she ate boiled vegetables every day and did not even dare to eat more eggs. After half a year, her albumin was so low that she could shake when walking. The season changed. She had a cold. Later, the nutritionist asked her to add a boiled egg and a small piece of lean beef every day. She didn’t have to completely avoid eating. If she wanted to eat braised pork, she could eat one or two pieces at noon and add more stir-fried vegetables in the evening. After three months of adjustment, her energy levels improved significantly.

After talking about eating, how much to move is the focus of debate. A few years ago, when the saying "10,000 steps a day" became popular, many elderly people in the community would go out for a walk before dawn and compare their step counts with others. As a result, within two months, several people went to the orthopedics department because of knee pain. Some people say that the elderly have to rest, and moving too much will damage their joints. Others say that if they don’t move, their cardiopulmonary function will decline quickly, and they will be more likely to have problems. A friend of mine who works in the rehabilitation department said that there is actually no uniform exercise standard. For elderly people with knee degenerative diseases, walking 3,000 steps a day, let alone 10,000 steps, may aggravate the injury. It is better to go swimming or play Ba Duan Jin, which puts less pressure on the joints and can also train the heart and lungs. ； If you have a good foundation and no problem with your joints, it's totally fine to walk 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day, or even occasionally climb a hill in the suburbs with an old friend. Uncle Wang in the community used to be the "step count king", walking at least 15,000 steps a day. Later, his knees hurt so much that he couldn't go downstairs, so he started doing Tai Chi for half a year. Now his knees no longer hurt, and his blood pressure is much more stable than before.

Many people think that since I pay attention to what I eat and keep up with my movements, I don’t need to get checked. This is actually the biggest misunderstanding. Most of the items in routine physical examinations are basic screening. If you have a family history or underlying disease, you must add targeted items. I have a distant uncle. Every year, the routine physical examination organized by his work unit showed that "everything is normal." Last year, he suddenly coughed non-stop. When he went to the hospital, he was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. This is because the routine physical examination only took a chest X-ray, and pulmonary nodules smaller than 1 cm could not be detected at all. If he had known that he had a family history of lung cancer and had a low-dose spiral CT done every year, the results would have been different. Elderly people with high blood pressure and diabetes should pay special attention. Don’t just take antihypertensive and antihyperglycemic drugs. Check glycosylated hemoglobin and urinary microalbumin every three months. Complications such as kidney damage and fundus lesions can be detected early. Early intervention is much more effective.

I was chatting with a general practitioner at a community hospital before. He said that many elderly people nowadays are always focusing on what to eat and what supplements to prevent old age diseases. Instead, they ignore two inconspicuous things. One is to prevent falls. Install a non-slip mat in the bathroom at home and install a handrail next to the toilet. If an elderly person with osteoporosis falls, there is a high probability of fracture of the femoral neck. Subsequent bed rest can easily cause pneumonia and venous thrombosis, which is more dangerous than the third level.； The other is don’t hold it in. Don’t hold it in when you pee, as it can easily lead to urinary tract infection. Don’t exert force when you are constipated. People with high blood pressure can easily cause cerebral hemorrhage and myocardial infarction. Paying attention to these small things is much more effective than taking thousands of health products.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there are really not so many mythical opinions about the prevention of geriatric diseases. You don’t need to follow other people’s health care experience. You know best whether you are feeling well or not. If you have any questions, talk to your contracted family doctor more than watching a hundred short health care videos. Oh, by the way, if I can get together with my old friends from time to time, dance square dances, and play chess, my heart will be open, which will be better than any tonic.