Managing the 3 Most Common Chronic Diseases in Older Adults

elderly woman washing vegetables

Older adults tend to get the brunt of all the health problems due to their age. During their younger years, they have likely experienced what life has to offer. They had a lot of fun, exerted too much effort in their jobs, and remained active however they could. They didn’t hold back, and they lived every day as if it was their last. 

With the amount of effort that they’ve exerted, it’s understandable that their body may have gone through a lot of stress, much so that its immunity may not be as strong as it was before. Is it any wonder why older adults tend to manifest chronic diseases late into their life? 

Their body fended off so much during their younger years that a couple of them may have slipped through the cracks, forming into a challenging illness that even modern medicines are having a hard time with. 

If you happen to have a loved one with a chronic illness, chances are you want to know how to best help them manage their condition. To help you fully understand your loved one’s condition, we’ve listed down the three most common ailments and how you can manage them better:

1. Arthritis

Arthritis is simply defined as the inflammation of the body joints, usually occurring on the knees. Older adults tend to experience this due to improper diet and injuries, the former reason being the usual suspect. It may seem like a trivial condition to have, but make no mistake—people who have them may be in constant pain. 

The best that you can do for a person with arthritis is to help them regulate their diet. They must avoid eating food with high salt content, red meat, trans fats, and heavily processed foods. They should also have a regular amount of exercise, but not too strenuously to hurt them more than it would help them.

2. Diabetes

Diabetes is a condition where a person’s glucose or blood sugar is too high. This is one of the most terrifying diseases that anyone can have because it can affect almost every part of the body. It can affect the kidneys, nerves, heart, and even your blood vessels. Wounds also tend to degenerate over time, with your body not having the ability to heal on its own anymore. 

If their wound gets bigger, consult their doctor to have it cleaned and treated correctly. Weight loss and proper diet is the key to handling a diabetic condition. Be sure to control your loved one’s meals and avoid any carbs or sugar to mitigate the risk further.

3. High Blood Pressure

Another common illness amongst older adults is high blood pressure. If you think the first two are already common, you may be surprised to know that 58% of senior citizens suffer from this very condition. This makes them one of the riskiest and most imminent diseases in the modern world today. 

Their risk factors usually lead to stroke or heart attack, which are fatal conditions that can happen anytime if the affected person is not careful. As the caregiver of your loved one, you may opt to control their meals, void of high cholesterol ingredients. You may also motivate them to exercise regularly to lose weight and sweat away from their organs’ excess body fats and oil.

Conclusion

Chronic diseases are common amongst older adults because of their reduced immunity. Due to the stress, improper diet, and bad habits they developed along the way, their body likely took their toll, and they are now experiencing all of the painful conditions that are close to being incurable. 

The best thing that you can do is help them mitigate the effects of the chronic disease and make sure that their immunity will remain formidable, well enough to fight off more of the symptoms that these illnesses may bring in due time.

If you are looking for homecare services in California that will handle your ailing loved ones and their conditions, we at Bridge Home Health & Hospice are at your service. Our trained clinicians and therapists are the best at what they do, and they will help your loved one get through each day with the proper care and medication. Contact us today for more information about our care services.