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Constipation in the Elderly

Date: January 13, 2019
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Could Parkinson's Start in the Stomach

Did you know that constipation in the elderly happens 5 times more than with younger adults? There are a few reasons why this happens. If not taken care of, it can cause a lot of pain. If you notice your senior is having stomach problems, this could be the cause.

Constipation in the Elderly

Cause of Constipation in the Elderly

 

A few big reasons for constipation are a bad diet, not drinking enough, and some medications.

Eating gets more difficult as you get older. Especially, with single or widowed older people. It can just take up too much energy. They will eat food that’s easier to eat and is low in fiber. Loss of teeth is another issue with eating for many seniors. They will often it soft, processed foods that have little to no fiber. Fiber is what keeps your bowels moving.

On top of constipation, lack of drinking liquids can cause urinary incontinence and stress incontinence. If seniors don’t eat, they don’t get fluids that way either.

Fluids are important because it softens stools to make them easier to pass.

Lack of exercise is another big factor. Many seniors could be on bed rest or bedridden and that means they don’t get up and move around.

Some antidepressants, antacids that have aluminum or calcium, antihistamines, diuretics, and anti-Parkinsonism drugs can cause constipation.

Common Types of Constipation in the Elderly

 

There are a few different types of constipation. Depending on the type some solutions will be better than others.

Normal Transit Constipation

This is the most common. This means that stool is going through the colon normally, but patients still have a hard time going to the bathroom. This can also be known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The difference between the two is that IBS causes abdominal pain.

Low-Transit Constipation

This is seen more in women. There is little bowel movements, no urgency, or fighting to pass stool. This means that the colon is moving slowly.

Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

This is a problem with the muscles in your pelvic floor or around the anus. People who have this have a hard time coordinating these muscles when going to the bathroom. The colon is also slow with this problem too.

How to Diagnosis Constipation

 

You start with looking at the history of the person who has it and get them looked at by the doctor. They will look at medications, lifestyle, and diet to see if someone is truly constipated. Going to the doctors is important because it might not just be constipation. It could be colon or rectal cancer.

Other causes are:

  • Heart diseases

 

  • Diabetes mellitus

 

  • Under active thyroid

 

  • Increased blood calcium

 

  • Low blood potassium

 

  • Increased blood magnesium

 

  • Overactive parathyroid glands

 

  • Dermatomyostitis

 

  • Systemic sclerosis

 

  • Autonomic neuropathy

 

  • Parkinson’s disease

 

  • Spinal cord lesions

 

  • Dementia

 

  • Depression

 

  • Anal Fissure

 

  • Diverticular disease

 

  • Strictures

 

  • IBS

 

  • Rectal prolapsed

 

  • Volvulus

 

  • Megacolon

Read more about this here.

7 Tips to Keep Exercising as You Age

Date: December 30, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
7 Tips to Keep Exercising as You Age

Exercising on a good day is hard. Exercising as you get older and your body fights you is even harder. Staying in motion is key to a senior’s life. It helps them from losing muscles and staying strong.

7 Tips to Keep Exercising as You Age

7 Tips to Keep Exercising as You Age

 

Whether it’s your beloved senior or yourself, these 7 tips may help you exercise as you age.

1. Put It On Your Calendar

It’s easy to tell yourself that you don’t have time to exercise. But, if you schedule it like you would with any other appointment, then it will be easier to have the time.

It will also help you make it a habit instead of a chore.

2. Have a Workout Buddy

Doing something new is hard when you are alone. See if any of your friends are also increasing the amount of exercise they do. Then you can become support for each other as you start and go through some rough patches.

It could even make it fun.

3. Push Yourself

This may confuse you, but pushing yourself can keep you exercising. Doing more challenging exercises will give you more pleasure post workout.

You will feel more accomplished, which will make you want to do it more.

4. Be Creative

If you hate going to the gym, then find other ways to exercise. See if there are community classes or any outdoor classes. You can even just take a walk everyday.

Don’t limit yourself.

5. Be Careful

You won’t be exercising if you hurt yourself. You need to find a nice balance between challenging yourself and endangering yourself. Be aware of how much your body can take.

Also, consider how flexible your body can be. Maybe include yoga in your routine. It can lessen the chance that you will hurt yourself.

6. Create Your Own Motivation

You need motivation to do anything, exercising is no different. Some people have the motivation because they want to lose weight or gain muscles. They are more likely to continue exercising than people who have no motivation.

So, create a goal for yourself and it will help you keep going.

7. It’s Your Future

Remember, even though it’s annoying now, it will help you in the future. It will help you when you are older and keep you healthy when you can’t physically exercise.

Read more here.

5 Misdiagnosed Conditions in Adults

Date: December 24, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
How Ageism Hurts Seniors' Health

Weird things happen to your body as you age. Things start to not work as well as they should be. It can be hard to tell what’s happening in your body. Conditions start to blend together. Here are 5 common misdiagnosed conditions in adults.

5 Misdiagnosed Conditions in Adults

5 Misdiagnosed Conditions in Adults

 

Some of these conditions may sound familiar, but they can present themselves differently depending on your age. Also, they can get confused for each other because their symptoms can be very similar. These are often misdiagnosed or overlooked in people 50 and older.

1. Urinary Tract Infection

Symptoms of this condition share many symptoms of Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. These include confusion, agitation, and withdrawal. UTIs can make symptoms like confusion and irritability worse in people who already have dementia.

Women are more likely to get this, though it is possible for men to develop this.

2. Delirium

Delirium is commonly mistaken for dementia, though delirium is caused by some sickness or condition. Certain drugs, like benzodiazepines and older antidepressants, can increase confusion and reduce cognition. Hormonal disorders, nutritional deficiencies, anemia, infections, alcoholism, and atherosclerosis are just a handful of conditions that can cause delirium.

3. Essential Tremor

There are different reasons for shakiness besides Parkinson’s disease. High potassium levels and certain medications can cause it. Essential tremor is another common cause of shaking in older people. They affect both sides of the body and the same body parts at the same time.

This also tends to be a genetic condition.

It’s not a dangerous condition, but it will get worse as time goes by.

4. Dehydration

Dehydration may be easy to treat, but it can be dangerous when left untreated. This is very common among older people because the brain doesn’t send signals to your body. This means you don’t notice that you’re thirsty as often.

Other than thirst, other signs include dry skin and long periods of time without urinating. It can aggravate other conditions like blood pressure, rapid breathing, and sunken eyes. It can also cause confusion and irritability.

5. Fibromyalgia

Statistics show that nearly 50% of people 65 and older have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis. Many symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are similar to fibromyalgia and lupus. They cause pain, stiffness, and aching in the same way.

People with fibromyalgia don’t usually have swelling like with rheumatoid arthritis, nor do they affect the same joints.

Read more here.

AI Changing Senior Care

Date: December 16, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
How Ageism Hurts Seniors' Health

As mentioned time and time again, the elderly population is growing at an alarming rate. People have been trying to find ways to help bridge the gap between people who need care and people who can do the care. AI changing senior care is the next step in the senior care revolution.

AI Changing Senior Care

Healthcare Concerns for Seniors

 

By having a rapidly aging population, there are already social, economic, and health concerns. People have to change the way they think about providing care.

In particular, healthcare is a key concern. Many chronic diseases like osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, dementia, and more need constant care.

What are medical professionals supposed to do? The US will face a shortage of between 40,800 and 104,900 physicians by 2030.

AI Changing Senior Care

 

Healthcare providers are hoping to give AI certain tasks when it comes to care. AI can be found in many steps of the care pathway, like intelligent tracking of biometric information to early diagnosis.

AI is more efficient than human doctors.

At Home Health Monitoring

There is a huge need for someone to be around to help with elderly people. Biotricity, a medical diagnostic and consumer healthcare technology company, is dedicated to delivering biometric remote monitoring solutions.

CarePredict is using AI to continuously detect changes in activity and behavior patterns to catch any health issues.

Smart Devices Help with Everyday Tasks

Apple and Fitbit have made smart wearable biometric trackers for everyone, including seniors. Seniors can use the built in AI to check inconsistencies in their biometric data.

These inconsistencies can detect a significant fall and sound an alarm.

AiCare claims to use machine learning analytics and wearable sensors to personalize care for each senior.

Smart Device Deducts Falls

A fall can cause a snowball effect of medical conditions. Xsens, Kardian, and Qventus have built AI powered fall detectors.

Virtual Companions

Loneliness is a real problem among seniors. They also need help with small tasks everyday. This has given rise to robotic caregivers. There are robots like Catalia Health’s Mabu, Intuition Robotics’ ElliQ, CT Asia Robotics’ Dinsow, and more are virtual home assistants for seniors.

They each have their own individual skills and perks.

Anti Aging Research

This may be the biggest impact of AI, helping further research. It helps anti-aging researchers develop methods to delay the process. It can explore different paths to prevent age related diseases.

Read more here.

How Language Affects Medical Trials

Date: December 10, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips

Medical trials are the key to any kind of progress. The problem is that depending on the trial, there aren’t enough participants. Participants that speak different languages aren’t able to join the trials, due to translation issues.

How Language Affects Medical Trials

How Language Affects Medical Trials

 

Medical trials have a problem finding people because they can be risky and there isn’t a guarantee that it will help. But trials are the only way to know if medications or procedures are safe.

There are millions of immigrants that could be part of trials, but very few studies have translators.

This can be because some doctors are concerned about interpreters. There could be some key things that get lost in translation that can negatively affect the study.

Particularly Difficult in Alzheimer’s Trials

 

In particular, Alzheimer’s studies don’t include translators. These barriers are really noticeable by the amount of Spanish speaking people in the country. There are almost 6 million American seniors, 2.2 million are Spanish speaking and not good with English.

This will only get worse as the years go on. This is because the Hispanic population is growing.

Different ethnicities can be a scientific goldmine. It’s not know that all medicine will work on people of different ethnicities.

Read more here.

7 Serious Foot Problems

Date: November 25, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
7 Serious Foot Problems

Our feet don’t get enough credit. They literally hold us up. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere. They also can give you clues to a bunch of different medical conditions like diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. Here are 7 serious foot problems that you should be aware of.

7 Serious Foot Problems

7 Serious Foot Problems

 

Make sure to take care of your feet. Look for any of these symptoms or problems listed below.

1. Pain

Pain should never be ignored. Any type of foot pain should be checked out by a doctor. It could mean fractures to plantar fasciitis, which is the inflammation in the tissue that connects your heel bone to toes.

Pain in the morning could mean arthritis or plantar fasciitis. With both conditions, pain will go away as the day goes on because your foot loosens up.

Pain that gets worse throughout the day could mean a fracture. It will go away when you are resting, but come back harder when you put weight on it.

2. Discoloration

You probably ignore your feet when you check your body for skin cancer. It’s actually most commonly seen in the foot You will see a weird mole on the top or bottom of your foot or between your toes.

Melanoma can appear as dark spots underneath your nails.

If you find anything on you, you need to go to the doctor ASAP.

3. Numbness

This can be caused by a variety of health problems, going from bad circulation to alcoholism.

Causes of numbness can be due to peripheral artery disease (PAD), diabetes, Neuropathy, and skin breaking down. PAD narrows the arteries that reduces blood flow that causes numbness. Neuropathy is a complication of nerves and can cause numbness.

4. Swelling

Swollen feet can happen after standing for long periods of time, but they are also a sign of injuries like stress fractures and tendon tears. It could also mean that something is wrong with your veins or arteries.

You should have a podiatrist check your circulation by feeling your pulse and doing tests.

5. Cold Feet

Everyone’s feet get cold every once in a while, but constant cold feet could be caused by insufficient blood flow. Risks of poor circulation is smoking, high blood pressure, heart disease, and history of strokes.

If the coldness is with toes that turn colors, either white or blue to red, it could be due to Raynaud’s disease. This is a common condition where the blood vessels spasm and constrict in response to cold temperatures.

6. Itching

Having itchy feet could mean athlete’s foot. You should look for a white, scaly, or flaky rash. You could also have cracks between your toes that itch, sting, or burn.

Athlete’s foot happens when sweaty feet are put in tight shoes. It’s also contagious and can be spread through other surfaces like towels, floors, or other shoes.

It can also lead to fungal toenails, which can get worse as you age. The body can’t fight infections as well as you get older.

7. Gait

If you notice a difference in how you walk, you should go to your doctor right away. Neurological problems could be the cause. It can range from a stroke and multiple sclerosis, to a herniated disk in your back.

If you aren’t stable while walking, it can lead to more falls and more injuries.

Read more here.

7 Foods That Help With Joint Pain

Date: November 25, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Does Inflammation Affect Bone Healing?

Joints are one of the most important aspects of your body. Having achy knees or sore shoulders can really ruin your day. You may be taking supplements to help with joint pain. Did you know food can help too?

7 Foods That Help With Joint Pain

7 Foods That Help With Joint Pain

 

According to researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 14 million people have joint pain.

But these foods may be able to help.

1. Pineapple

It’s rich in vitamin C and helps with inflammation because it has bromelain. Bromelain is as helpful as ibuprofen for osteoarthritis pain and rheumatoid arthritis.

2. Salmon

Studies have shown that omega-3 fish can help with symptoms from arthritis. It blocks COX and LOX enzymes which causes inflammation.

The body doesn’t produce omega-3s, so it’s good to have it in your diet.

3. Turmeric

This is the yellow spice that flavors curries. Curcumin, that’s found in turmeric, has been shown to help suppress cancer, reduce blood pressure, and help with inflammation.

It can help with joint deterioration and inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis.

Though turmeric can act as a blood thinner, so check with your doctor before including it in your diet.

4. Ginger

Gingerol is an active substance in ginger. It’s good at reducing joint pain and inflammation.

One study showed that doses of highly concentrated gingerol reduced knee pain due to osteoarthritis by 40%.

5. Hot Peppers

Hot peppers like serrano and habanero are full of capsaicin. This has a good effect on longevity, cancer prevention, inflammation, and pain.

The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it has.

6. Garlic

Garlic reduces inflammation and stimulate the body’s immune cells. Though heating it may decrease its effectiveness.

7. Cherries

They are full of antioxidants. This is good because inflammation causes oxidative stress, and antioxidants help with that.

They can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Read more here.

Medical Students Learn that All Seniors Aren’t Alike

Date: November 18, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Could House Calls Be Making a Comeback?

One of the biggest issues facing seniors is getting proper care. This is because there are a lot of senior stereotypes that medical personnel have in their heads. This stops seniors from getting proper medical care. Now schools are making sure that medical students learn that all seniors aren’t alike.

Medical Students Learn that All Seniors Aren't Alike

Medical Students Learn that All Seniors Aren’t Alike

 

At Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, students are chatting with senior citizens. One of the seniors is Elizabeth Shepard, who is 82-years-old. She was invited as part of an anti-ageism program called “Introduction to the Geriatric Patient.”

Students ask if there are any health issues, recent falls, and other such standard questions.

Shepherd is also a working actor who teaches Shakespeare at Stella Adler Studio of Acting. She tells the students her life story, making her seem like a whole person instead of a stereotype.

“It’s important that they don’t think life stops as you get older. So I decided I would be frank with them.”—Ms. Shepherd

How This Program Was Developed

 

Dr. Ronald Adelman, co-chief of geriatrics at Weill Cornell, developed this annual program. He did this when he realized that medical students had a distorted view of older adults.

“Unfortunately, most education takes place within the hospital. If you’re only seeing the hospitalized elderly, you’re seeing the debilitated, the physically deteriorating, the demented. It’s easy to pick up ageist stereotypes.”— Dr. Adelman

These stereotypes affect how seniors get treated. They are often dismissed. Their problems treated as if their age is the problem—not an actual health problem.

Many seniors are also talked down to because doctors use ElderSpeak.

At least 20 medical schools in the US have done similar programs to decrease ageism healthcare. One program in South Carolina matches students with older patients to follow throughout their schooling.

The hope is that programs like this will encourage people to go into geriatric care, which desperately needs doctors. It’s not the highest-paid area, and that makes it hard for doctors to pay off their loans.

Read more here.

Aspirin Isn’t as Helpful as You Think

Date: November 11, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Using Antibiotics Early Could Reduce the Risk of Sepsis

A common myth is that taking aspirin everyday helps your health. Though now, that might not be the case. Aspirin isn’t helpful, or at least not as much as you think. A large scale clinical trial found the drug doesn’t help prevent heart attacks, strokes, dementia, or physical disability.

Aspirin Isn't as Helpful as You Think

Aspirin Isn’t Helpful

 

In fact, those that took a low dose of aspirin everyday were more likely to suffer serious internal bleeding than when they took a placebo.

Researchers even noticed that there were more deaths with the people who were taking aspirin.

The Study

The study had 19,000 adults participate. Around half of them were assigned to take 100 milligrams of aspirin a day, the other half had a placebo, for 5 years.

The idea of seniors taking aspirin everyday is not based on facts according to the study’s authors.

Though a 2015 study showed that nearly half of 2,039 US adults between 45 to 75, who didn’t have a history of cardiovascular disease, were taking aspirin.

Does Aspirin Help with Heart Attacks?

 

It does, only if you already have had a heart attack or stroke.  Studies have proved that a low dose of aspirin can significantly reduce following heart attacks and strokes.

The benefits outweigh the occurrences of internal bleeding.

Though overall official recommendations are mixed.

Read more here.

Experimental Drugs Boosting Seniors’ Immune Systems

Date: November 11, 2018
Author: Erynn
Categories: Stories & Tips
Small Companies Keeping Alzheimer's Research Alive

The anti-aging craze is still going strong, but now it’s not just about appearance. Scientist have created 2 experimental drugs for boosting seniors’ immune systems.

Experimental Drugs Boosting Seniors' Immune Systems

Experimental Drugs Boosting Seniors Immune Systems

 

Before getting too excited, scientists have said that more research is needed before completely confirming the findings and making sure the drugs are safe.

The findings are based on a small group of people and used methods that could make misleading results.

This shouldn’t discourage you though.

What the Experimental Drugs Are

 

Researchers tested very low doses of 2 drugs. One is called RAD001 and is used to fight cancer and prevents organ transplant rejections. The other is BEZ235 and is a cancer drug.

Both of these drugs are known TORC1 inhibitors and affect a crucial cellular pathway that plays a role in the immune system and other biological functions. Similar drugs were connected to extending the lifespans of lab animals.

Researchers think this pathway could be the key to anti-aging treatments.

All About the Study

 

Researchers gave 264 people aged 65 or older different doses of 1 or 2 of these drugs or a placebo. They did this everyday for 6 weeks.

The researchers then followed up with the participants a year later to see how they faired. They also tested how their immune systems responded to a flu vaccine.

The participants who got the 2 drug combo reported 1.49 infections, like colds and bronchitis. The ones who got the placebo reported 2.41 infections. That’s around a 40% reduction.

The drugs also boosted how the seniors responded to a flu vaccines. This important because seniors are often the most vulnerable to the flu.

The most common effect of the drug was diarrhea, but it was somewhat mild.

Read more here.