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Aging and Chronic Diseases
Acute diseases are onset and sudden health conditions that affect human beings on short durations. These diseases mostly occur and resolve without necessarily having the patient taking any medical intervention. However, they can persist if the patient has low immunity or has biological conditional that facilitate occurrence of the acute illnesses. Good examples of common acute diseases include common cold and cough. In regard to older people, acute diseases tend to persist because of defective immunity that comes with older age (Lesson 2, 2015). As people age, the old age comes along with a significant reduction in body immunity (Rowe & Khan 1998).
On the other hand, chronic diseases are serious illnesses that form in the body over a long period of time. This period of time is sometimes more than three months. Unlike the acute diseases, chronic illnesses require medical attention and treatment for the patient to recover (Lesson 2, 2015). These diseases are treated with prescription and in most cases may need serious medical interventions depending on the extent of the illness. Good examples of chronic illness are diabetes and heart diseases. In regard to old age, chronic diseases from a greater percentage of diseases that affect the old people (Lesson 2, 2015). These diseases require long term care or management as some may be permanent such as diabetes.
Chronic conditions and old age
Heart Diseases
There are various symptoms of heart diseases depending on the type of heart condition causing the illness. Among the symptoms include shortness of breath, feeling weak and general dizziness. In addition, patients of heart diseases complain of nausea, some vomiting, chest pains, chest discomforts and throat discomforts (Poon et al, 2003). Another symptom is an irregular heart rhythm, which is referred to as an arrhythmia.
The risk factors for heart diseases are diverse, but age and nutrition are the most determinant. One of the risk factors is age, where old people have a higher risk of getting heart diseases than the young ones. This is because aging is associated with changes in the physiological structures of the vascular walls and vessels. Other significant risk factors are nutritional in nature in the form of poor diet. Eating of fatty foods and junk meals is among the factors that lead to excessive cholesterol in the body, which form a cholesterol blockage in the heart’s blood vessels (Poon et al, 2003). Other risk factors include alcoholism, tobacco, gender, pollution and physical inactivity.
The treatment for the heart diseases involves medical interventions that seek to manage the condition rather than heal them. The initial treatment by the doctor is aimed at controlling the heart rate. In the cases where medicine is not adequate, doctors also use surgical procedures that depend on the extent of the damage done to the heart. At the same time, lifestyle changes are part of the treatment as patients are advised to take low fat foods and balanced diets.
The heart disease has possible consequences on the day to day operations of the old people. First, they are restricted in the type of the day to day activities that they engage. Depending on the condition of their heart condition, they are not allowed to carry out hard exercise, walk long distances of engaging in tiresome activities (Poon et al, 2003). Their diet is also restricted as they are limited on fatty foods, which they may desire to take. In addition, the medication for the heart disease may affect their health, but helps them in the greater good of their health.
Arthritis
Arthritis is one of the common old age diseases in the world, and has unique symptoms. One of the symptoms is muscle and joint pains which persist over time as the arthritis becomes more chronic. Another severe symptom is stiffness of joints and inability to walk or move comfortably (Poon et al, 2003). This limits the movement of a person and causes pain when overworked. Other symptoms include weight loss, muscle weakness and general tiredness, partial or complete disability, fatigue and lack of sleep.
Old age and aging is one of the most determinant risk factors. As observed over time, the risk of having arthritis increases with age, and the condition is more prevalent among the elderly population. In addition, nutrition is cited as another risk factor as the disease affects people with poor diets. Other risk factors include gender, obesity and overweight, occupation and joint infections.
Arthritis has no known treatment that cures the disease. However, the treatment that is available is for the management of the disease. The medication provided to arthritis patients is aimed at reducing the effect of the symptoms and have healthy joints (Poon et al, 2003). In some cases, joint replacement procedures are done where physicians seek to erode arthritis in a specific joint.
In regards to aging, arthritis has severe consequences that affect the elderly on a daily basis. Arthritis reduces their mobility because of the stiffness of the joints and muscles. Arthritis also increases their daily pains due to the persistent joint pains (Poon et al, 2003). At the same time, arthritis affects the comfort of the lives of the elderly by curtailing their sleep, weight loss and body fatigue. More severely, arthritis may shorten the lives of the elderly by causing disability in the extreme cases of the disease.
References
Rowe, J.W., & Khan, R.L. (1998). Successful Aging. Michigan: University of Michigan
Lecture 2, 2015, Biological Aging: Maintaining Functional Abilities and Managing Chronic Illness. Class Notes, 2015 Pearson Education, Inc, 2/17/2015
Poon, L., Gueldner, S.H., & Sprouse, B.M. (2003). Successful Aging and Adaptation with Chronic Diseases. New York: Springer Publishing Company