When you get older, you may find some of the things you used do to remain healthy no longer contribute as much as they used to. Even more than that, you may find that you are physically no longer able to do specific things. In fact, your age itself can affect your health out of your control, but there will be some steps you can take to fight this, as outlined below.
Your Brain
You are most likely aware of age’s impact on your brain. In most cases, it will lead to memory issues or go as far as dementia. It will mainly affect your thinking skills, as your brain and chemicals change drastically with age. Even healthy elder adults may forget the names of places that were familiar to them or the names of loved ones and lose the ability to multitask. It’s all about promoting cognitive health, which can be achieved by staying mentally active, being social, eating a healthy diet, and engaging in more physical activity.
Your Digestive System And Stomach
There may be some age-related structural changes to your insides when you get older. This will particularly affect your large intestines, leading to extra bouts of constipation. Something else that can contribute to this is your diet or a lack of exercise. Be aware of what medication you’re taking too, as that can affect your digestive system.
Your Prostate
This will be an issue that affects men as they get older. However, a woman can suffer from prostate issues, just with a very small percentage. Issues with the prostate often develop into something known as prostate cancer. It is something that impacts the lives of thousands of Americans each year. In fact, the American Cancer Society estimates that one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at one point in their life.
Because of issues like this, it has become more and more important to attend regular screenings for prostate cancer. Indeed, there are more ways to have a screening conducted in the modern era we find ourselves in. You can have an MRI scan that looks at your prostate, attend a PSA test or utilize a 4K score. Healthcare experts such as Ezra provide 4K scores alongside other medical tests to help evaluate a man’s risk for developing aggressive prostate cancer. 4K scores can also help doctors and healthcare providers make more informed decisions regarding testing and treatment further down the line.
This is likely to be more of an issue for those who are older, especially 60+. However, it’s worth being aware that anyone can get it. Book a screening or test to get it out of the way and receive reassurance that everything is okay or get started on a treatment plan.
Your Bladder
When we age, our bladder may become slightly less elastic. Essentially, this means that we need to urinate more often. Overall, our bladder muscles will become weaker, leading to our pelvic floor muscles struggling. When they struggle, it can lead to bladder control issues. For example, you may find it hard to completely empty out your bladder, or lead to you relieving yourself when you’re not ready to. This is also known as urinary incontinence and can also be caused by an inflamed prostate.
It’s possible for other factors to influence your bladder control. For example, if you are overweight, you may find yourself more susceptible for this. If you have diabetes, you may have suffered some nerve damage that can also affect urinary incontinence. If you take certain medications and drink lots of caffeine or alcohol, that can also enforce changes.
To combat this, consider going to the toilet more often. If possible, try to go more regularly to the toilet so that your body knows when to do it. Try to maintain a healthy weight and avoid smoking where possible.
Your Eyes
Your eyes are another important part of your body that may begin to struggle more as we age. The first thing you may notice is having difficulty focusing on objects in front of you. Apart from main sight, you may notice you are more sensitive to glares and bright lights. When there are different levels of light, you may again struggle to adapt. You may take on something known as cataracts, which involve the lens of your eye becoming more blurry and cloudy.
To help get ahead of these issues, you should try making regular appointments with an optician to have an in-depth look at your eyes. They may give you advice on how to promote eye health, which could involve you wearing glasses or contact lenses. Where possible, try to wear sunglasses when in a sunny climate to protect your eyes from harm.
Your Ears
Similar to your eyes, your ears may struggle as you get older. The main way this will happen will be from your hearing ability, with it diminishing with age. It’s also likely that you will struggle to hear high frequencies and fully comprehend a conversation when you’re in a crowded room. One way to protect your hearing is to wear earplugs when around loud machinery or other such loud noises. If your ear doctor recommends wearing hearing aids, then you should do so.
Your Mouth
When it comes to your mouth, it’s possible that your guns will start to pull back from your teeth as you get older. If you have gotten used to taking certain medication, such as an inhaler for the treatment of asthma, then you could suffer from dry mouth. This could lead to extra decay and potential infection.
Your Skin
Strangely, your skin may work in the same way as your bladder when we age. Whilst this sounds bizarre, it’s because your skin, much like your bladder, becomes less elastic with age. This means that your skin will become more fragile, leading to more bruises and drier skin in general. To promote more healthy skin, you should consider your skincare routine. This involves you being gentle when in the shower, using soaps and moisturizers that are healthy for your specific skin.
Your Weight
You may be familiar with the term metabolism. This is the process within your body that works to burn your calories. However, when we get older this starts to slow. This means that if you decrease the amount of exercise or activities you do whilst not changing the way you eat, it’s likely you’ll start putting on weight. This means that you need to try and up your levels of activity, even if it’s just going for a short walk.
Your Sexuality
Depending on your gender, you may have your sexual health change in a few different ways. For women, the main issue comes from menopause. This process essentially means a woman can no longer get pregnant. It is a type of infertility that means they have no eggs remaining in their body. This process usually happens around age 40, but it will differ from woman to woman.
Men can usually still produce a healthy amount of sperm for most of their lives. However, they may suffer from erectile dysfunction or sexual impotence of some kind in general. Again, this will differ from man to man. Either way, it’s worth speaking to your doctor about any issues or concerns you may have.
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